Can a McLaren be more expensive than almost any Ferrari?
RM Sotheby's is auctioning the McLaren F1 from 1997 with chassis number 062 (SA9AB5AC1V1048062) between August 13 and 16, 2025 using the "sealed bid" procedure. 106 road cars were built in the 1990s, seven of which were exported to the USA. The first owner of the silver F1 was Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. He didn't drive the three-seater with central cockpit much, and the car changed hands after eight years with just 2600 miles on the clock. At 3500 miles, the car was sold to the third owner in 2010. Now it has 6500 miles on the clock and RM Sotheby's is hoping for bids in excess of USD 23 million.
This is quite a lot of money and only a few cars have been auctioned or sold for more than this McLaren in "Magnesium Silver" in the last 50 years, including primarily some Ferrari 250 GTOs and of course the famous Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR as a Uhlenhaut coupé. In total, we are talking about perhaps a good dozen cars that have ever changed hands for more money.
Now the McLaren F1 is certainly an automotive milestone, but compared to a Ferrari 250 LM or a 250 GT Tour de France, both of which were built in smaller numbers and sold at auction for less, it lacks the exclusivity of the powertrain and thus the purebred Italian charisma. However, this does not seem to bother previous buyers, as the previous record for a road car is also very close to the estimate now set.
But if you consider that you could buy several Bugatti 35s or 51s for the same money, put together a small or fine Ferrari collection or even define an exquisite multi-brand sports car selection, then you do wonder why you would want to invest over USD 20 million in "just one car".
However, those who absolutely want to call a McLaren F1 their own will not be bothered by such considerations. And we recommend that you study the auction documentation carefully . The beautiful pictures and video make this worthwhile even if you don't want to buy the car.
