McLaren F1 GTR goes to auction

Need a new track day toy for next year? Gooding & Co. has just the thing

It's been a week for notable auction cars in the days before Christmas, what with an NSX driven by Senna and the Escort RS1800 used by the McRaes being sold now or soon. But this McLaren F1 GTR Longtail is surely something else again.

It will be sold by Gooding & Co at its Scottsdale auction in January. They were the same auction house that sold the roadgoing F1 earlier this year for $8.47m, making the $5-$7m estimate attached to this car look like pocket money. Nearly.

The Fina liveried (doesn't it still look great?) chassis 21R was driven by JJ Lehto and Steve Soper in the 1997 FIA GT Championship. It won at Hockenheim and Helsinki but this particular car didn't race at Le Mans. It comes from a private collection and has been restored by McLaren. Prepped and ready to go for the 2014 track day season then...

See here for a video from the 1997 GT series. Keep a look out for Soper in this GTR about 40 seconds in.