The Rarest McLaren F1 of All Is for Sale

Photo credit: Patrick Ernzen ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The McLaren F1 is quickly becoming one of the most desirable collector cars on the planet. It’s widely touted as one of the best-driving cars of its era, and perhaps of all time. Only 106 examples exist, meaning it’s news every time one comes up for sale. And this car, chassis 059, is the most unique F1 of all.

It only takes one look at the front end to understand why chassis 059 is so special: The headlights. They’re shorter than a normal F1’s clusters. According to RM Sotheby’s, this F1 was a testbed for an updated headlight solution that used internals from the BMW Z1, hoping to improve on the original design’s shortcomings. McLaren’s final product ended up using the updated internals, but without the slimmer cluster. So this car is truly a one of one.

The first owner, a gentleman in the United Kingdom, put over 16,000 miles on this F1 under his care. Seven months after taking delivery he sent it back to the factory to have the high downforce kit (a front and rear wing) installed. The car also received a set of genuine 18-inch five-spoke wheels. It was sold in 2012 to its second and current owner in the U.S. under the Show and Display exemption, where it’s seen just 300 additional miles.

The car will come up for bidding on Thursday, August 18 through RM Sotheby’s sealed auction process, and close one day later. F1s rarely come up for sale, but when they do, they usually sell for around $20 million. Considering this one’s unique headlights and sought-after high downforce kit, we expect it to go for at least that much.

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