This stunning red McLaren F1 (chassis #28) went from California back to the United Kingdom for a whopping $10.5 million, meaning that F1s are now worth significantly more than a year ago. Damn.
Last August, an F1 was sold for $8.47 million at Pebble Beach. Fast forward a few months, and we are way past the 10 million mark. It's only going uphill from here, making it the next Ferrari 250 GTO.
Chassis number 28 is not a GT, LM or GTR, yet is very much connected to motorsport as this 1995 car was built especially for Michael Andretti by McLaren in return for his early departure from their F1 team. Unfortunately, he couldn't use it in America at the time, so he sold it to a Japanese collector a year later.
The car retains Andretti's signature on the back of the sun visor and is one of the only two red F1s. It was brought back to the US in late 2002 by Clifford Meltzer from Los Gatos, California, who then sold it to an unknown buyer in 2005. In early 2008, the car changed hands again only to end up in McLaren's San Francisco showroom thanks to owner and well-known car collector Tom Price.
Mind you, getting an F1 in 2014 is harder than you think. It took British sales-and-servicing specialist DK Engineering (the guys supplying the two Ferrari F40 pace cars for the Goodwood Member's Meeting among other wonders) six month to secure the deal for their client, and the F1 got sold only because it was traded in for a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.
With this F1 now back in the UK, rumor has it that another American F1 owner recently turned down a $12 million offer for his car. Was it Ralph Lauren, Jay Leno or this bloke? No matter. All they have to do is keep their cars in one piece and say no deal to anybody trying to throw lots money at them.
This investment is looking brighter than the gold it's layered with...
Hat tip to Peloton25! Photo credit: DK Engineering