The McLaren F1 was such a car – it thundered onto the streets in 1994 and left four years later. Stuart Milne says the world has never been the same since.

How many cars can you think of which have been built using gold, titanium, carbon fibre and magnesium?

But then again, how many £640,000 cars were capable of 240.1mph in the mid nineties?

One, that’s how many.

The F1 might have celebrated its 12th birthday this year, but it still represents the pinnacle of British engineering.

Sure, it was powered by a 6.1-litre BMW V12 engine and designed by South African Formula 1 design god Brit Gordon Murray but it was built by McLaren supremo Ron Dennis at his factory in Woking, Surrey.

Just 100 F1s were built, and only 64 were for the street. Dennis and Murray were keen to make sure their new monster could cut it on the world’s race tracks, so the rest were destined for chequered flag domination.

The idea for the F1 was born shortly after the 1988 Italian Grand Prix, which was the only race that season the team failed to win.

Six years later, McLaren pulled the wraps off its new masterpiece. Petrolheads were stunned; the motoring media were in raptures and I remember sitting slack jawed as I opened Performance Car magazine to see the first pictures.

Officially the F1 had a top speed of 231mph, which was the fastest ever recorded for a production car.

But the true top speed wasn’t realised until 1998, when sportscar racer Andy Wallace clocked a staggering 240.1mph at Volkswagen’s German test track, Ehra-Lessien.

McLaren’s new world record stood for an incredible seven years, until the Swedish Koenigsegg CCR went 1mph faster.

The F1’s father, Gordon Murray said his creation wasn’t about breaking records; rather his goal was to create the ultimate driver’s car.

And who are we to argue, with a car so focused, it even uses gold foil as a heat shield under the engine cover.

But in a world all about ultimates, there’s always a chance of going one better.

That car was the McLaren F1 GT.

Only five were built to celebrate its 1995 win at Le Mans and the achievement of five finishes out of the seven entries to the gruelling 24 hour endurance race.

They were lighter than the standard F1, but featured a huge rear wing and were finished in bright Papaya Orange in honour of the company’s founder, the late Bruce McLaren and his trademark Formula 1 and Can-Am cars.

In a world dominated with big power figures, there will be few hypercars greater than the McLaren F1.

Today if you need to ask how much an F1 is, you can’t afford it. They hardly ever come up for sale, because their enthusiastic and well-heeled owners love them. But if you do spot one, expect to hand over the thick end of £800,000.

Sounds like money well spent to me.