A select few rich, famous and amazing people have been privileged enough to call themselves McLaren F1 owners, but arguably the most famous among their number was British comedian Rowan “Mr. Bean” Atkinson. That’s because he crashed his, twice. Apparently that didn’t hurt the F1’s resale value much.
CNBC reports that Atkinson has sold the dark burgundy car for a cool £8 million, about $12.2 million. He originally purchased the car in 1997 for as much as £640,000. While Atkinson is now sadly F1-less, he did make a huge profit on the sale.
The good news is that although he can no longer cruise around in one of the greatest sports cars of all time — and still the fastest naturally-aspirated car ever made — he can’t crash his again, either.
In 1999, he damaged the hood by driving it into the back of a Rover Metro, as one does in England. Then in 2011 Atkinson crashed the car into a tree and a road sign, resulting in an infamous and insurance company-infuriating $1.4 million repair bill.
Atkinson solid his car through English specialist car dealer Taylor & Crawley, but its new owner has not been disclosed. Don’t fret for him too much, though — he still owns an NSX, a Jaguar MK7, an Aston Martin DB2, a vintage Ford Falcon, a 1939 BMW 328 and a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe.
Your 18-year-old, twice-crashed car will probably not sell for $12.2 million. Just so you know.
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.