There Are TWO McLaren Speedtails Up For Auction At The Same Car Event

The story of the McLaren Speedtail began with the legendary McLaren F1. For decades, the F1 had been The Car as far as McLaren fans were concerned, with its race-bred engineering, preposterous price tag and rocket-shop performance. Sure, McLaren Automotive had been formed and started pumping out very respectable sports cars and hypercars, but the F1 was still The Car.

So McLaren decided to update the F1 for the 2020s, by which we mean it designed the Speedtail. Like the F1, it was the pinnacle of McLaren engineering. Like the F1 it was limited to 106 units. Like the F1 it had three seats with the driver in the middle. And like the F1 it was bloody marvellous, with a 250mph top speed, north of 1000 horsepower and all the luxury that McLaren’s finest artisans could throw at it. Reviewers dribbled in glee as they gushed enthusiasm from their mouths, pens and laptops. If ever there was a future classic that’s already a classic, then the Speedtail is surely it.

If you missed the initial run of 106 units, then it seemed like it was tough cheese; most were whisked away into private collections and won’t see the light of day for years to come. But if you’ve got a bulging chest of coins with ‘My Dream Car Savings’ scrawled on the lid, then now’s the time to fetch the crowbar, because not one, but TWO US Speedtail owners have decided it’s time to move their cars on.

The two McLarens feature in different auctions held during this year’s Monterey Car Week in California, between August 11 and 20. The first, auctioned by RM Sotheby’s, is the 72nd Speedtail made. Originally ordered by McLaren of San Francisco, it’s clad in Athera Grey paint with Rich Brown and Tan leather inside, and the original customer splashed £86,000 in options on top of the original £1.8m price tag. In the three years they’ve owned it, they’ve covered a paltry 177 miles.

In fairness, this may be because the Speedtail isn’t actually road legal in the US. You can get a snifter of its bodacity thanks to a special dispensation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which lets you do no more than 2,500 miles a year and you must make it available for inspection until its 25 years. Alternatively, of course, you could just buy it and ship it somewhere else.

If Grey’s just not your colour, how about this Heritage Gloss Steel version (or ‘blue’ to you and me)? With a comparatively huge 277 miles on the clock, this is car 87 – the same one that sold in Florida last year for $2.7m. Presumably, the owner had buyer’s remorse? This one has a whopping £260,000 of optional extras and paint inspired by the McLaren commissioned by McLaren’s late majority shareholder, Mansour Ojjeh. Originally ordered by Miller McLaren of Greenwich, Connecticut, it’s now up for auction with Mecum, and presumably, the short-term current owner is hoping to get his money back and then some.

You’ve got a month to convince your bank manager that buying one of these cars is a great investment. If you succeed, maybe put a few extra miles on your new purchase, yeah?