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McLaren F1 GTR Longtail is a Fine Racecar Looking for a New Owner

Before the Top Gear TV show as we know it today existed, the British motoring magazine sponsored a McLaren F1 GTR Longtail in the FIA GT Endurance championship of 1997. Though the racecar managed to scoop a pair of sixth-place finishes that season, the car on hand is the 10th and last F1 GTR Longtail built.
McLaren F1 GTR Longtail chassis no. 28R 26 photos
Photo: McLaren
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Back in 2012, chassis no. 28R went under the hammer for $13 million. Bonham sold the car then, but this time around McLaren is brokering the deal. In the absence of solid intel on the current owner, let’s talk about what else makes this Macca a special machine.

Officially known as the ex-GTC Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTR Longtail, the British brute is iconic and goes as fast as it looks. Although two Longtails have been converted to road-legal specification, we are keeping our fingers crossed the future owner of this Macca won’t dilute the motorsport pedigree that oozes through every little bit of the car’s exterior trim.

Thanks to a unique centerline driving position and an all-composite structure, the F1 was good to race from the get-go. But the GTR Longtail derivative is heralded as the ultimate development of the F1, which is saying something about how much collectors want this thing. On the technical side of things, the GTR Longtail tips the scales at 915 kilograms (2,017 lbs), 135 kilograms (297 pounds) lighter than a regular McLaren F1 GTR.

Under the hood, the belly of the beast consists of a 6-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine developed by the Bavarians from BMW. It’s a modified S70/2 destroked from 6,064 cc to 5,990 cc. Output took a blow as well, from 610 horsepower to 601 ponies. Nevertheless, the resulting oomph is animating a racing car that weighs under one ton. That’s one hell of a roller coaster ride.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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