$1m McLaren bought by Elon Musk in 1999 now worth jaw-dropping figure
Published on Oct 23, 2023 at 7:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Adam Gray
Last updated on Oct 25, 2023 at 4:36 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The McLaren F1 is one of the rarest supercars in the world – the very car that invented the supercar genre as we know it today.
Only 106 were ever produced, and they’re owned by some of the most renowned figures of the 20th and 21st century – from George Harrison to Elon Musk.
When Musk sold his first company, Zip2, in 1999 for $22 million, the then 28-year-old’s first purchase was a $1 million F1 McLaren.
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In his first year of F1 ownership, Elon Musk put 17,702 kilometers (11,000 miles) on the odometer, using the supercar as his primary means of transportation.
At one point, Musk left the McLaren F1 parked up on a street in Palo Alto, California for three weeks, which is crazy when you think about it.
Legend has it, Elon Musk wrecked his uninsured McLaren after justa few months while showing it off to Peter Thiel.
Apparently, one afternoon en route with Thiel to meet with investors to snag some venture capital for his fledging company, PayPal, Musk hit the gas to show off the F1’s acceleration.
He failed to run on the traction control, though, and the tremendous force of the acceleration sent the rear wheels flying off the vehicle and the rest of the McLaren flying through the air into an embankment.
Thankfully, neither Musk nor Thiel were injured, and after reporting the accident, the two future icons hitchhiked the rest of the way to their meeting.
But, did Elon Musk ever fix his McLaren?
Though he failed to insure it, Musk apparently paid for the repairs out of his own pocket.
He owned the McLaren supercar unti 2007, when he sold it at a profit, despite having previously been involved in an accident.
While Musk was incredibly fond of his McLaren, as he started Tesla and began innovating the electric vehicle segment, he felt that he needed to let go of his collection of combustion-engined cars in order to maintain brand image continuity.
That being said, not too long ago Elon Musk was revealed as the secret buyer of the $1 million Lotus Esprit that starred in James Bond.
That’s not his daily driver, though, with Musk recently revealing he drives a specific Tesla model every day.
But, what happened to Musk’s McLaren F1?
It’s not known who the current owner is, however, we do know that it caught fire in 2009 and was sent to McLaren Special Operations for a complete rebuild.
If the supercar were to come to market today, it’d be worth in the region of $20-25million.
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Adam Gray is an experienced freelance motoring journalist and content creator based in the United Kingdom. Using his media accreditation with manufacturers’ press offices, Adam test drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches, producing written reviews and news pieces for a variety of lifestyle and business publications. Here at Supercar Blondie, Adam applies his journalistic skills penning social-first content around current news and trends. When he’s not behind the wheel of the latest car or writing up another viral story, Adam can be found at his local rink playing ice hockey or at the Riverside Stadium supporting his beloved Middlesbrough FC.
