Beschreibung:

* 6.1-liter BMW V12 * 6-speed sequential gearbox * Carbon-fiber monocoque * The final, ultimate F1 GTR * FIA GT points-scoring example * Stunning, iconic Gulf livery * First time ever offered publicly * A Gordon Murray concept Following in the wheel tracks of such charismatic designs as the Ferrari 250 GTO, the Ford GTs and the Porsche 917s, in recent years the McLaren F1 GTR has become absolutely the most desirable endurance racing collectors' car from the 1990s. The compact Gordon Murray-designed all-composite construction three-seat road car design, with its totally distinctive centerline driving position and utterly majestic 6.1-liter 4-cam fuel-injected V12 engine by BMW, emerged as the 'ultracar' with everything. Its active aerodynamics and 550-plus horsepower succeeded in achieving the McLaren company's aim of producing "the greatest driver's car there has ever been, or is ever likely to be" – and it is a measure of the initial production car's 240mph capabilities that once subjected to the restrictions of racing regulations – the resultant F1 GTR actually had to be de-tuned to be acceptable! The 1995 Le Mans 24-Hours race-winning McLaren merely set the foundation for an entire family of more dedicated racing Coupes to follow. The gleaming example we are now privileged to offer here is actually the last example made of the ultimate variant of the entire McLaren F1 series. It is the tenth and last of the 1997-season McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' endurance racing Coupes. It is one of the cars campaigned that year by the McLaren F1 GTR racing program's most attractively-liveried and most charismatic teams – the GTC Motorsport Gulf Team Davidoff operation. And with its legendary Gulf racing-blue finish it is a latter-day successor to the revered bloodline of Gulf-Mirage, Gulf-Ford GT40, Gulf-Porsche 917 and 908/3 cars which remain such enduring landmarks of motor racing history. McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' '28R' offered here is a veteran of no fewer than eight premier-league FIA GT World Championship-qualifying races – in which it achieved two points-scoring sixth place finishes. It would have been easy for McLaren Cars Ltd to bask in the simple afterglow of its technical achievement in producing what they intended to be the finest "driver's car" ever manufactured in the one hundred yearlong history of the motor industry. But no high-performance car manufacturer can expect to build such a world-beater, without one or two prominent and enthusiastic customers becoming keen to prove its capabilities 'in anger' on the race tracks of the world. Despite design – now Professor – Gordon Murray – having concentrated totally upon producing nothing other than a purebred street car, enthusiastic customers began to persuade McLaren to change their minds through the summer of 1994. McLaren principal Ron Dennis made it quite clear that if some customers wished to go racing then McLaren Cars Ltd would offer the most comprehensive factory back-up and support possible – and would not run a works car against them. Into 1995 the first race-modified McLaren F1 GTR cars emerged. Three made the model's debut in the February, 1995, Jerez 4-Hours race in Spain, and Ray Bellm/Maurizio Sandro Sala won in the former's GTC racing team entry. The same pairing followed up with another victory in the Paul Ricard 4-Hour race in France, then Thomas Bscher/John Neilsen's West-sponsored McLaren made it three in a row for the new GTRs at Monza, Italy. No fewer than seven McLaren F1 GTRs started the 1995 Le Mans 24-Hour race, and five finished, in first, third, fourth, fifth and 13th places. The winning Ueno Clinic-sponsored car was co-driven by J.J.Lehto/Yannick Dalmas/Masanori Sekiya. For McLaren Cars, Le Mans '95 marked the greatest Le Mans race debut in depth ever achieved, by any manufacturer...ever. Not too shabby for a detuned road car! Through the first half of 1996, in its second season of racing, the McLaren F1 GTR maintained its glittering record of succes