22/08/2026
The boy at the showroom window ordered all five.
London, the nineties. A young man stands outside McLaren's Park Lane showroom, head pushed against the glass, staring at an F1. Born in a village in northeast Morocco - no electricity, no running water. Left school at 16, retired his father by 19. His words: "It felt like a spaceship."
He has asked to remain anonymous. Thirty years later he went to the man who drew the car.
Gordon Murray designed the McLaren F1, after the Brabham fan car and McLaren's title-winning cars of 1988-90. He never wanted it raced. Customers pushed until he relented, and the F1 GTR won Le Mans anyway. He then built five F1 LMs, one per GTR that finished.
Today he has his own manufacturer, Gordon Murray Automotive, and since 2024 a commission arm, Gordon Murray Special Vehicles.
Our man asked it to mark thirty years since that win, and ordered all five S1 LMs. Five again, same reason. He picks who gets the other four: "it has to be the right kind of person, not someone after a shiny object."
Dry facts on the S1 LM:
4.3 l Cosworth V12, naturally aspirated, 700+ hp at 12,100 rpm
six-speed manual
957 kg target weight
central driving position, three seats, dihedral doors
Inconel exhaust wrapped in 18 karat gold, as the F1 had
carbon panels 0.6 mm thick, some left unlacquered
Now the part that concerns investors. Two auctions, two weeks apart:
21 Nov 2025, Las Vegas. S1 LM chassis 1, sold as a future build - it does not exist yet: USD 20,630,000. Highest price ever paid at auction for a new car, excluding charity lots.
5 Dec 2025, Abu Dhabi. A 1994 McLaren F1, 1 of 64 road cars, ex-Brunei, later given the High Downforce Kit and LM interior: USD 25,317,500. Most expensive F1 ever auctioned.
Read that again. A car nobody has built made 20 M. A 1994 car made 25 M. Both sold the same 24 hours in June 1995. That is not a car market. That is a story market.
PS Murray designed the S1 LM through aggressive cancer treatment, and is now in remission. His wife, to the customer at Goodwood: "This car saved Gordon's life."
