Most of today’s most valuable classic cars would get smoked in speed tests by a modern counterparts. But the McLaren F1, dubbed the “Car of the Century” upon debut at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix, has managed to hold on to a record for three decades and counting.
The world’s first road car to achieve downforce-producing ground effect was famously developed by Gordon Murray, the Formula 1 designer whose racers racked up 50 Grands Prix wins. While tame compared to the radical Bugattis and Koenigseggs of today, the F1 was unprecedented in the ’90s, with an all carbon fiber/Kevlar monocoque chassis, three seats, zero electronic diver aids, aerodynamic cues from the 1971 Ferrari 312P sports racer, an entirely flat floor that enabled ground effect, and a naturally aspirated 6.1-liter V12 producing 627 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque.
Natural aspiration is especially noteworthy, as RM Sotheby’s points out that the McLaren F1, under the helm of Le Mans-winning test driver Andy Wallace, set the world record for the fastest road car at 242.95 mph in 1998—a speed that’s only been surpassed by turbocharged or supercharged road cars since. That’s to say, the McLaren F1 is still the fastest naturally aspirated road car ever built.
This particular model has a couple of other things going for it. It’s one of just seven original US imports and 106 total McLaren F1s manufactured between 1992 and 1998. More notably, it’s original owner was Larry Ellison, the co-founder of software company Oracle whose $286.8 billion net worth currently ranks him as the world’s second richest person, according to Forbes. Coincidentally, Elon Musk, the world’s current richest person with a $408.7 billion net worth, purchased one of the other seven McLaren F1 U.S. imports in 1999… before crashing it in 2000.
RM Sotheby’s has more on the vehicle’s history and provenance:
Delivered to him in August 1997, Ellison kept his car for over a decade with 062 wearing a California vanity license plate “ORACLE8”, logging less than 2,600 miles, before it was purchased by another car collector and resident of the San Francisco Bay Area via Ferrari Maserati of Silicon Valley in 2005. That second owner then sold it at auction in 2010 to its current, third owner, having been driven less than 3,500 miles from new by that point. Remarkably, the car would stay in the San Francisco Bay Area with its new owner, making it likely the only F1 to have changed owners multiple times…but never changing its immediate geographic location.
After sending 062 to McLaren Special Operations in the UK for a service, new radiators, and upgrades to the air conditioning to further enhance its drivability, the car took part in the 20th F1 Anniversary Tour of 2012, based around Lake Garda’s Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli. It is shown among the F1s and F1 GTRs in Porter Press International’s McLaren F1 AnniversaryTour book.
Chassis no. 062 is offered with a number of McLaren Special Operations upgrades in addition to the aforementioned upgraded radiators and air conditioning, including aluminium fuel tanks and a sports exhaust (the original exhaust accompanies the car), and is on its original magnesium wheels, with a spare set finished in matte black. It is accompanied by the original owner’s manuals, the original luggage set, the tool roll, a travel suitcase, garment bag, car cover, F1-branded Auto Glym detailing kit, the service modem/laptop, and torque wrench.
The F1 was sent to McLaren Philadelphia in October 2023, one of eight global service centres where servicing and repairs can be carried out in a factory-approved manner on an F1 (and the only facility in North America with a McLaren F1-certified technician). At this point, the car received a rebuild of the transmission (which was handled by McLaren Special Operations in the UK), the fitment of four new tires on the original wheels, fitment of 12 new spark plugs alongside an 18-month service, some repairs to the gold foil in the engine bay, a new battery, and the aforementioned replacement of its fuel bladders with the aluminum fuel tanks. November 2024 saw further service work by McLaren Philadelphia to address the car’s air conditioning system. This work was carried out on location at the owner’s collection.
In March of this year, a detailed condition report was carried out by Kevin Hines, the aforementioned factory-authorized McLaren F1 technician based at McLaren Philadelphia. This report (which is available for inspection to qualified bidders) summarized that “it is evident that this vehicle has been well cared for during its current and previous ownership, being in very good cosmetic and mechanical condition.” Under advisement of the report, the car’s windshield was replaced with a correct, original style windscreen sourced from McLaren Special Operations in the UK. Further to the report, the car’s exceptional history file includes numerous invoices and documents dating back to the original Ameritech invoice to Ellison for the purchase of the car in 1997.
Expect Ellison’s former 1997 McLaren F1 to sell for a projected $23 million or more when it’s auctioned from August 13-16 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey event.