Twenty million, 600 and thirty thousand US {dollars}. That’s how a lot the Gordon Murray S1 LM supercar bought for, formally garnering the best sale value for a brand new automobile bought at public sale, excluding charity tons.
The record-setting second occurred on the amfAR charity’s Gala Dinner in Las Vegas, held in affiliation with the Las Vegas System One Grand Prix. The sale grants the proprietor the prospect to “take part in remaining growth check drives, providing private suggestions on efficiency to additional optimize the automobile to their particular person style.”
The customer additionally receives a 500-page monograph chronicling the S1 LM’s growth from preliminary sketches to remaining meeting. As certainly one of solely 5 vehicles ever produced – and carrying the ultimate chassis quantity – it’s among the many rarest fashionable supercars to hit an public sale block. The design pays tribute to the 1995 Le Mans–successful McLaren F1 GTR, certainly one of Murray’s most celebrated creations.
Gordon Murray Automotive
The “S1” stands for “Particular One.” And right here’s the kicker: when the automobile was first introduced, all 5 examples had been bought by a single collector. Think about dropping round $100 million on a whole set of 5 limited-edition hypercars.
“This world report public sale result’s a defining second for our complete group and for the automotive world. The S1 LM represents all the things I’ve realized in six many years of design – a pure expression of driving perfection, engineering artwork, and a real return to magnificence. To see it obtain this scale of appreciation is really humbling,” mentioned Professor Gordon Murray CBE.
So what, past rarity and lineage, makes the automobile so particular? Beneath the rear deck sits a 4.3-liter V12 that produces over 710 horsepower at 12,100 rpm and 370 lb-ft (501 Nm) of torque.
Gordon Murray Automotive
Higher nonetheless, 81% of that torque is out there from simply 2,500 rpm, because of lighter internals and a better compression ratio. The Cosworth-built engine is paired with a six-speed handbook gearbox. Sure, a correct handbook in a multimillion-dollar hypercar.
There’s additionally a bespoke Inconel exhaust system wrapped in 18-karat gold warmth shielding, and Murray’s patented three-seat format with the driving force within the heart. The suspension blends road-car consolation with race-car precision, whereas ultra-thin carbon fiber physique panels (simply six-tenths of a millimeter thick in locations) assist maintain weight all the way down to an astonishing 2,110 lb (957 kg).
Even the finer particulars are obsessive about weight financial savings: the handbrake, pedals, and heart console are all bespoke light-weight parts. The shift knob is a quartz crystal formed right into a droplet, containing liquid oil that has been trapped for tens of millions of years – a kind of splendidly eccentric touches solely a hyper-rare automobile like this might get away with.
Gordon Murray Automotive
The S1 LM borrows the technological basis of the GMA T.50 however shortly diverges right into a machine with its personal identification. It embodies Gordon Murray‘s core philosophies: driving purity, minimal weight, engineering artistry, exclusivity, and a meticulously curated buyer expertise.
If charity tons had been included, the S1 LM would rank twentieth among the many costliest vehicles ever bought at public sale. On the prime of that checklist sits the ultra-exclusive 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé at $142 million. The remaining is full of blue-chip legends from Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and the occasional unicorn Jaguar.
So the place does that go away the S1 LM? At $20 million, it’s undeniably costly. And with solely 5 ever constructed, unquestionably unique. When you have a fortune to burn, there are far worse methods to spend it.
Supply: Gordon Murray
