Here’s a tidbit of Top Gear news that doesn’t have to do with the fate of the show – a McLaren F1 GTR Longtail, sponsored by the show in 1997, can be yours.
In the earlier days of the TV show and magazine, Top Gear sponsored this car in the FIA GT Endurance championship, the primary racing series in which the McLaren F1 GTR competed. It wasn’t exactly successful by the end of the season, but there are many other attributes that make it truly special.
Top Gear’s 1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail.
Supplied, Top Gear
Not that a McLaren F1 isn’t special, GTR or not, but this particular car is the 10th and final F1 GTR Longtail ever built. Powered by a 6.0-litre V12 rated at 600 horsepower, the car was raced by Andrew Gilbert-Scott, Geoff Lees and Anders Olofsson. At the end of the 1997 season, it was sold to a private German collector and changed hands a few times since then, selling for nearly $13 million at a Bonhams auction in 2012. This time around, however, McLaren is brokering the deal through its Special Operations division.
Top Gear’s 1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail.
Supplied, Top Gear
Once it finds a new home, this McLaren F1 GTR Longtail probably won’t see much more mileage put on the odometer. It’s a shame, especially considering McLaren says the car can be made street-legal, joining two other road-legal GTR Longtails.
