What is the greatest supercar of all time? There’s a strong argument for McLaren F1. McLaren’s first road car was designed by F1 technical genius Gordon Murray, it was the fastest production car of its time, and won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans despite not being designed for the race. And if you’re looking for the best McLaren F1, this might be just it.
One of the lots featured on rm sotheby’s Taking place at the 2026 Monterey Car Week auction on August 15, this 1996 McLaren F1 GTR is known as the “Pop Art F1” due to its 1990s livery. The one-off graphical treatment takes this car from rare (just nine 1996 GTR models were made) to unique, and it has a celebrity owner. That’s probably why the auctioneer has quoted a price of “more than $35 million.” This is too much even for F1, which is already a five-figure car in any form.
The GTR was a race-ready version of the F1 developed at customer request and in contrast to Murray’s vision of the F1 as a pure road car. Relatively small changes, including carbon-ceramic brakes, a fixed rear wing and general lighter weight, were enough to seal the 1995 Le Mans victory. McLaren made further upgrades for 1996, including revised bodywork with a larger front splitter, a further reduction in weight, and a reinforced gearbox that addressed the 1995 car’s biggest weakness.
These upgrades would not be enough to keep the F1 GTR competitive against purpose-built race cars such as the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1, leading McLaren to launch the more radical F1 GTR Longtail in 1997. Meanwhile, the first 1996-spec GTR-chassis 10R would achieve fame of its kind on and off the track.
The first of its kind, chassis 10R was initially fielded by McLaren for testing and promotional purposes. It went to the 1996 Le Mans race for testing (but did not race) in blood red paint with graphite wheels, but for the rest of its public appearances it wore the same livery you see here, making it one of the most recognizable examples of a car that already made a strong impression.
The car was eventually sold to Pink Floyd drummer and car collector Nick Mason, who had it maintained by F1 specialist firm Lanzante. Mason’s ownership of the company includes regular maintenance and a full restoration after a journalist crashed into it in 2009. Mason had his own chance in 2017, but given Lanzante’s experience with F1, chassis 10R couldn’t have been in better hands. Combined with the exclusive livery, celebrity ownership and rare exclusivity, that’s why this F1 GTR could be the most expensive of its kind.
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