2017 McLaren 650S GT3

McLaren is one of the most eponymous names in motor racing history, from countless successes in Formula 1, to triumphs at the highest echelons of endurance racing, to domination in Can-Am and Indycars. The marque’s astonishing success span decades, and even today they are still at the top of their game.

Their GT programmes from the past 15+ years can be traced all the way back to the ever iconic F1 GTR. The F1 GTR dominated the BPR Global GT Series, then went on to defy all the odds at 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans to claim a stunning overall victory against superior prototypes. Longtail versions continued to be raced in FIA GT and at Le Mans in the years that followed, before McLaren bowed out of endurance racing.

 In 2006 GT racing organiser extraordinaire Stephane Ratel decided to organise a championship for the FIA’s new GT3 class. With its core element being a balance of performance system, it soon became tremendously popular. Needless to say it wasn’t long before McLaren saw this as an excellent opportunity to promote their new line of road cars, and so they joined the fray with the McLaren MP4-12C GT3. This car met immediate success as they raced to pole position in their 2nd ever attempt at the iconic Spa 24hrs. Even though the car showed incredible performance, a mix of bad luck and teething issues meant it didn’t quite achieve the success that was hoped for. However, McLaren GT worked hard on development and this all changed with the release of the 650s GT3 in 2015.

Using the same base chassis as the MP4-12C, McLaren used all they had learned to create a faster and even more reliable weapon to take on the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, Audi and BMW. Almost immediately the 650s GT3 showed its performance capabilities by winning possibly the toughest GT3 race in the world… the Bathurst 12 Hours. The harsh and unforgiving Mount Panarama circuit makes for the perfect proving ground for such racing cars. Cars must show a mix of performance and reliability in order to succeed, all of which the 650s GT3 has in abundance.

The car offered here is chassis 01, the very first production 650S GT3 delivered. Throughout its racing life chassis 01 was raced by two teams, the first bring ‘Kox Racing’, who campaigned the car during its first two seasons in both the Blancpain Endurance Series and International GT Open. 01 was piloted by Le Mans winner Peter Kox and Nico Pronk.

Ahead of the 2017 season, chassis 01 was sold to British team Strakka Racing. Strakka deployed their new car in both the Blancpain Endurance Series and the jewel in its crown, the Spa 24 Hours. For the 24 Hours Strakka adorned 01 with a unique and striking art car livery. Half of the car wore the traditional factory McLaren orange whilst the other side of the car wears a dramatic thunder and lightning design.

Chassis 001 was campaigned as a PRO car throughout its 2017 season, with McLaren factory driver Rob Bell joined by Toyota factory driver Ben Barnicoat, Alvaro Parente and Côme Ledogar. Following 2017, the car was retired from active competition and presents in remarkable condition with chassis mileage of 15,536km. Meanwhile the engine has 5,779km life left and the gearbox 4,490km. Chassis 01 represents a fabulous opportunity for any serious McLaren collector to add a unique piece of history to their collection, and one that with its unique art car livery will prove a talking point for anyone admiring it.