OCTOBER 31, 2008

McLaren F1 fetches $4.1m

There may be a recession going on but some things do not lose their value. At least that is what seems to be the message from an auction in London which resulted in a 1997 McLaren F1 road car being sold for a record $4.1m, twice the estimate for the car. There were only 64 of the cars built and several have been destroyed but the McLaren that fetched the record price was one that sat in the Park Lane showroom for several years (and thus has a lower mileage than some others).

The auction in London featured a number of impressive sales including a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM Berlinetta and the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France which each fetched $3.6m. The RM Auctions organisation hopes for more record prices in May next year when there will be a major sale of Ferraris at the company's headquarters in Maranello.