Wednesday 17th June 2009

Final McLaren F1 GTR Up For Sale

A classic piece of motorsport and supercar history up for grabs in Japan

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Last-ever F1 GTR sports classic Gulf colours

The last-ever McLaren F1 to roll off the Woking production line has turned up for sale in Japan. The car, one of the ‘long-tail’ McLaren GTR race cars, was built in 1997 and run by Gulf Team Davidoff in the oh-so-classic orange and blue colours.

The long-tail Mclaren F1 GTRs were built to meet technical regulation changes for the 1997 Le Mans race and the FIA GT championship, and featured a sequential gearbox as well as the more obvious aerodynamic enhancements

Chassis 028R in action at Donington

A total of 100 GTRs were built, of which just 28 were race cars. This car, chassis number 028R, was originally designated 027R, but was damaged by McLaren during shakedown. It was then rebuilt and became Gulf Team Davidoff’s spare car, but was raced during the second half of the 1997 season.

PH’s Japanese isn’t all that hot, but we’re pretty sure that the Japanese website listing the car doesn’t show a price tag. Still, if this isn’t a case of POA, then we’re not sure what would be.

It’s a fair bet, though, that this piece of motorsport history is going to cost its new owner a solid seven-figure sum.

 

[Cassius81]

Awesome piece of kit...bet it is worth a fortune!

Some of pics don't seem to work for me...

[Roop]

I still prefer the look of the short-tail, but man alive, that does look tasty...

[TheYeti]

Weren't the racers actually slightly down on power compared to the road car due to the restrictors? But much lighter because it was totally stripped out?

Would be interested to know what one of these is like to drive compared to the road car. I remember Tiff Needel driving a road legal racer on the road (short tail) and saying it was suprisingly civilised, apart from the incredible noise (he had to wear headphones and a mic to be heard!).

What a stunning piece of kit though. I don't remember long tails having such a large and high rear wing as this one though

[CampDavid]

Not wanting to be a pedent, IIRC only 100 F1s were made period, 28 of them being GTRs

[LukeBird]

CampDavid said:

Not wanting to be a pedent, IIRC only 100 F1s were made period, 28 of them being GTRs

It's alright, I'm with you on that one!

Call me a gayer, but I prefer the short-tail F1s!!

[FWDRacer]

PH weekly wallpaper please...

[deadmau5]

I think that looks so much better than the normal road-going version. The paint scheme
is fantastic and really makes the lines come alive. I'm on my Blackberry so can't tell
if those images are big enough to use as a desktop. Could someone tell me please. Thanks

[Gridl0k]

[johnaachen]

Gridl0k said:

Looks a lot like a 3 series from that angle :P

[tomwoodis]

Lovely pick of the back of a BMW there but what exactly was the point?

[Gridl0k]

deadmau5 said:

I'm on my Blackberry so can't tell
if those images are big enough to use as a desktop. Could someone tell me please. Thanks

On a blackberry desktop, yeah

Or a PC from 1995.

Try this one:

http://is.gd/14qS5

[Gridl0k]

tomwoodis said:

Lovely pick of the back of a BMW there but what exactly was the point?

Just pre-empting all the "bet a chipped 335d is faster" posts.

[AlexUK]

Words cannot describe how much I want that car. Stunning.

[anonymous-user]

on the road, the shorttail looks far better, more nimlbe andagile, on the track however, the longtail just looks far more purposeful. i remember the 1000km race at silverstone in 1998 with the F1 GTR, the Panoz, the CLK-GTR and the 911 GTR

seven figures though? thats crazy, no real series for them to race in of note whereas for that money you could get a 956/962/XJR-11 with notable history...

[Gridl0k]

pablo said:

seven figures though? thats crazy, no real series for them to race in of note whereas for that money you could get a 956/962/XJR-11 with notable history...

Just think what it will be worth in 200 years.

Some people play the long game.

[toxgobbler]

TheYeti said:

Weren't the racers actually slightly down on power compared to the road car due to the restrictors? But much lighter because it was totally stripped out?

Would be interested to know what one of these is like to drive compared to the road car. I remember Tiff Needel driving a road legal racer on the road (short tail) and saying it was suprisingly civilised, apart from the incredible noise (he had to wear headphones and a mic to be heard!).

What a stunning piece of kit though. I don't remember long tails having such a large and high rear wing as this one though

I remember Tiff Needel stuffing one (or caught fire long time ago) at Le Mans as well.

[KrissJ]

LukeBird said:

CampDavid said:

Not wanting to be a pedent, IIRC only 100 F1s were made period, 28 of them being GTRs

It's alright, I'm with you on that one!

Call me a gayer, but I prefer the short-tail F1s!!

You are a gayer (predictable but I couldn't resist). Gayer, what a word! And what a car, although I agree with you about the short tail thiung, and I was also thinking the same thing about the number of F1s produced as I was reading the article.

[Mini1275]

I prefer the long tail, great car

[MSportUK]

pablo said:

on the road, the shorttail looks far better, more nimlbe andagile, on the track however, the longtail just looks far more purposeful. i remember the 1000km race at silverstone in 1998 with the F1 GTR, the Panoz, the CLK-GTR and the 911 GTR

seven figures though? thats crazy, no real series for them to race in of note whereas for that money you could get a 956/962/XJR-11 with notable history...

I remember that race at Donington too - absolutely awesome, with the F1 in the Gulf / Day Off livery. FIA GT has never quite lived up to that since; nothing (except maybe petrol LMPs) look or sound like those beasties these days. If I was a gazillionaire, I'd snap it up. It might not have the history, but God, it looks fantastic!

[chevronb37]

MSportUK said:

pablo said:

on the road, the shorttail looks far better, more nimlbe andagile, on the track however, the longtail just looks far more purposeful. i remember the 1000km race at silverstone in 1998 with the F1 GTR, the Panoz, the CLK-GTR and the 911 GTR

seven figures though? thats crazy, no real series for them to race in of note whereas for that money you could get a 956/962/XJR-11 with notable history...

I remember that race at Donington too - absolutely awesome, with the F1 in the Gulf / Day Off livery. FIA GT has never quite lived up to that since; nothing (except maybe petrol LMPs) look or sound like those beasties these days. If I was a gazillionaire, I'd snap it up. It might not have the history, but God, it looks fantastic!

I would need to delve into my programme collection, but if I recall, those races were 4hrs and not 1000kms. Also, the Panoz did not compete in FIA GT in 1998 - it was 911GT1, CLK LM (the GTR only ran in 1997) and a single long-tail F1 GTR for Thomas Bscher. They visited both Silverstone and Donington in 1997 and I was there for both, including getting heroically wet at Silverstone. I do not recall a Silverstone round in 1998, but I'm happy to stand corrected. I certainly attended Donington.

In my opinion 1996 and 1997 were a high point, although 1996 was the old Karcher BPR series, before Bernie and Max launched a coup...