Engine bought via eBay brings McLaren 650S back to life
- This man bought a damaged McLaren 650S for just $38,500
- He’s since spent months repairing and restoring it
- He managed to track down a new engine on eBay
- Now he’s attempting to start it for the first time
Published on Feb 24, 2025 at 4:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Feb 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A car enthusiast has managed to bring his McLaren 650S roaring back to life by fitting it with a $21,000 engine he bought off eBay.
YouTuber The Inja was delighted back in December 2023 when he bought a crash-damaged 2016 McLaren Automotive 650S Spider for just $38,500.
Since then, he’s been carefully repairing, restoring, and reviving the McLaren to try and get it back to its former glory.
He recently tracked down a suitable engine for the McLaren – bringing his project one step closer to completion.
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The YouTuber tracked down an engine for the McLaren 650S online
The Inja, who you may remember as the poor guy who got scammed while attempting to buy a $31,000 electric sports car from China, has been sharing regular updates on the McLaren with his YouTube followers.
In a recent update, he revealed he’d tracked down an engine and was now ready to fit it.
He spent $21,000 on the engine – a pretty big sum when you consider the car only cost $38,500 – so would the purchase pay off?
After getting the engine installed, the YouTuber admitted to feeling more than a little bit nervous.
“My heart is pounding, I don’t think I even need to explain how big of a moment this is for the project,” he said in the video.
“This is kind of a make or break.”
No pressure then…
Turning the engine for the first time
There’s always a risk when buying something online – just ask the guys who bought a $1,000 Mitsubishi from eBay sight unseen only to discover it would take years to restore.
So, as you can imagine, the YouTuber was more than a little bit anxious ahead of attempting to turn the newly fitted engine over.
In the video, he explained that while the engine had been listed as in ‘operational condition’ by the seller, he wouldn’t actually know if that was true until he tried it.
And that first try did not end well – after turning the key, he was met with silence as the new engine did nothing.
Thankfully, with a bit of persistence, he got the engine roaring into life and was even able to take the McLaren 650S out for its first drive since he bought it.
Outwardly, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done on the McLaren to get it back to how it once was, but at least it’s finally back on the road.
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
