Are you brave enough to drive in that brand new McLaren F1?

For years this McLaren F1 has remained hidden in Japan, carefully maintained by rarely driven. Now with less than 390 km on the clock it goes under the hammer. Do you have the wallet or the stomach to drive this BMW V12?

With only 106 road vehicles ever built, it’s always worth paying attention to when a McLaren F1 is up for auction. It’s not all about rarity, however; the McLaren F1 represented a paradigm shift in the automotive industry, redefined what was possible for a road car and held the title of fastest production car for the best 15 years. As a result, the highest bidder tends to give a decent bit of change for the keys to Gordon Murray’s masterpiece. Who could forget the time when Rowan Atkinson’s F1 sold for £ 8million in 2015 after losing two games in the car; first with a tree, then with the rear of a Range Rover.

Chassis 029 was due to be auctioned at Gooding & Company in Pebble Beach on August 14th. After all, not only has it never seen a crash, it has barely seen an open road and covered a little more than 1/3 the distance that it normally takes to run in the engines of this exotic metal. As is to be expected from a car with this mileage, the words “untouched” and “original” often appear. Chassis 029 still contains the original, date-coded Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, which we would recommend swapping out if you want to break the seal on this box-fresh F1 unless you want your Atkinson impression. Elsewhere, the original Creighton Brown paintwork and the light brown and dark brown leather interior remain in, you guessed it, pristine condition.

As the 25th F1 of all time, chassis 029 is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a brand new example of what is perhaps the best road car of all time. While putting miles on such a perfect specimen might be considered sacrilege when you have the means to bid on a car like this, we think a few more miles wouldn’t hurt.