S1 LM fetches £15m at auction, sets record
Just five examples of the F1 GTR homage will be built - the final car suggests GMA is onto a winner
In case you were under any illusions about how the wider market views Gordon Murray’s S1 LM - the McLaren F1 GTR homage revealed to the world during Monterey Car Week - the only example of the five-car run to be offered to all comers has fetched $20m at auction in Las Vegas over the weekend. Or £15,772,773.78 to be exact. Which, according to Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, is the highest sale price for a new car sold at auction that wasn’t offered partly for the sake of charity. For some kind of reference, it’s basically the same amount (not correcting for inflation, mind) that someone paid for a McLaren F1 at auction back in 2021.
In other words, the market likes it very much. And why wouldn’t it? There’s a lot to like about a car that harks back to McLaren’s Le Mans winner stylistically, while also containing a bespoke version of the Cosworth-built V12 that develops 720hp at 12,100rpm. Oh, and GMA’s manual six-speed gearbox and a ‘race-inspired, road-perfected’ chassis. It was always intended as a wet dream of a hypercar (you can read the full story of its inception here) and that’s very much how it comes across in the flesh.
Well, we say ‘flesh’. This was less the auction of a car than a car-shaped space. The S1 LM in question will be the final version built, which is to say it hasn’t been yet. But the handy thing about that is now the auction victor gets to sit down with Professor Gordon Murray CBE himself and plot what their car will look and feel like. They’ll even get a unique 500-page monograph chronicling the S1 LM’s creation, which you’d assume will include some lovely snaps of development drives alongside Dario Franchitti, another boon of the arrangement.
“This world record auction result is a defining moment for our entire team and for the automotive world,” noted Murray. “The S1 LM represents everything I have learned in six decades of design – a pure expression of driving perfection, engineering art, and a true return to beauty. To see it achieve this scale of appreciation is truly humbling.” It does rather speak to the aspiration and resolve of the man who commissioned the S1 LM and still owns (to the best of our knowledge) the other four examples yet to be built. He has spoken of finding the ‘right kind of person’ to take ownership. Let’s hope they live up to his vision.
Come on. Cool car, no doubt. Really cool car. Might be a cool guy behind it, I don't know, I'm sure I won't ever meet them. But using obscene amounts of money to comission a car that ultimately makes that person even more money isn't really soemthing to be lauded? It's not like they're taking a risk is it? Even if the values had nosedived they'd still have had several really cool cars, and I highly doubt they invested their entire net worth into this project.
Good gig if you have the money and GM likes you
I thought Joe Macari was in the frame too
For me, that shows just how rotten-looking the T50 is. It's still the car I'd like above all others (except this, I suppose), but it's dull at best. The only thing I like - unlike most - is the fan: that's innovative and something a bit different-looking.
A single seater I understand if you want a car for a drive by yourself, i.e. minimising weight.
A two seater I understand, because most people go on longer journeys with their partner next to them, either for the company on the journey, or for when you arrive at the destination.
A three seater? If you're on your own then you're using a compromised car. If you are with your partner, they sit partially behind you, a bit like how your children sit in the back of the car! I don't understand the use-case.
Maybe I should be imagining trading my partner in for a couple of younger models just so the car makes sense?
Good gig if you have the money and GM likes you
I thought Joe Macari was in the frame too
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