Supercar sale set to smash records
SOME (VERY) RICH BOY’S TOY: The McLaren F1 supercar at Sotheby’s in New York. The 1998 three-seater F1 is one of the highlights of The Pinnacle Portfolio, a collection of post-World War 2 cars that is expected to fetch a total of more than $65-million THE multimillion-dollar orange eye candy in the window at Sotheby’s in New York is as shiny as a Jeff Koons sculpture.
A 1998 McLaren F1 sports car attracted gawkers from the moment it appeared in the company’s Upper East Side headquarters this week.
The McLaren, estimated at more than $12-million (almost R150-million), is part of a private collection of 30 automobiles that includes at least nine Ferraris, two Lamborghinis and two Bugattis that will be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on August 13. The seller is an unidentified collector based in Florida.
The sale will take place during an annual classic car extravaganza in the Californian towns of Carmel and Monterey and at the Pebble Beach golf course. Last year, sales at Bonhams, Gooding & Company, and RM Auctions reached almost $400-million, a record tally for high-end collectibles.
“The market has remained very strong,” said Ian Kelleher, MD of RM Sotheby’s, a partnership formed when Sotheby’s took a 25% ownership interest in RM Auctions in February.
Bonhams set the record last year for a single collection sale at $65.9-million. The August sale in California, estimated at more than $65-million, is set to smash this record.
The 1998 McLaren F1 for sale may establish a new auction record for the model. The record is $8.5-million.
The McLaren F1 is known as a supercar — the fastest road version of a race car. The one for sale is a hybrid of the street McLaren F1 and the McLaren F1 GTR that raced at Le Mans.
The company produced 64 standard road F1 versions, upgrading two of them — including the one for sale — with a higher horsepower engine. Such supercars originally sold for $1-million each, Kelleher said.
Unusually, it has three seats in front, with the driver flanked by two passengers. The seats are snug and deep. “It’s not designed for hefty men,” Kelleher said. “It’s for someone who likes to go fast, someone who likes the sound of the engine. Comfort is secondary.”
F1 owners include fashion designer Ralph Lauren and comedian Jay Leno. “It’s one of the smallest clubs you can be in,” Kelleher said. — Bloomberg