1997 McLaren F1 GTR goes up for auction in Japan
Racing fans can now own a piece of racing history with the McLaren F1 GTR, one of the 3 successors of the McLaren F1, going up for sale from a private collection in Tokyo, Japan. The custom-built race car was introduced in 1995 and is known for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car ran for three years from 1995-1997, with a total of 9 chassis built in the first two years and 10 in the final year – one of which, #09R, was sold to Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, for his car collection. The chassis up for sale is #28R, originally #27R, but was damaged, and rebuilt for GTC Competition as a spare car, raced late in FIA GT in 1997. In 1997, the car weighed about 2,000lb (910kg) and generated a conservative 600hp (447kW) from its de-stroked 6.0L version of the F1's 60-degree V12. MotorAuthority reports that a standard road-going McLaren F1 recently went for $4 million at auction, which means this McLaren F1 variant could also fetch a matching price, and we agree.
