Engine: 6.0 liter DOHC V-12
Horsepower: About 620
0-60 mph: 3.1 seconds
Top speed: 240 miles per hour
Price New: $1,000,000
Value Now: $1,000,000-$1,500,000
Racing driver Bruce McLaren built cars that dominated Can-Am racing in the 1960s. McLaren died in an on-track accident in 1970, but the company that bears his name lives on. In the mid-1990s, it built what was intended to be the world's ultimate high-performance car. More than a decade later, many believe it still is. The car began as a "regardless-of-cost" project by McLaren designer Gordon Murray in 1988, with the production F1 making its debut in 1994. Powered by a specially prepared, naturally aspirated BMW V-12, the F1 was bodied entirely in carbon fiber and had one-plus-two seating, with the driver positioned centrally and forward. Some 106 cars were built, only 64 of which were road cars. Although not initially intended as a racer, it was a natural. The GTR race version took first overall at Le Mans in 1995, the first time a manufacturer won its first try at the 24-hour race. The last three cars were built in 1997; they are the long-tailed lightweight GTs, the rarest of any McLaren F1s.
Behind the Wheel:
McLaren maintains a database to match up prospective sellers and buyers of the cars. Hemmings has a 1997 McLaren for the bargain price of $1.46 million. (At seven percent interest on a five-year loan, that's a monthly payment of $28,909.74.)
Photo courtesy of Motor Trend
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