Want to buy a supercar? We explain how

The team, which included Piquet and Steve Soper, started from pole and led for 34 laps before running out of fuel and finishing fourth overall. It competed at Le Mans later that year, finishing 11th after completing 318 laps.  

When it was retired from racing the car was converted from a track star into a road-going behemoth by Paul Lanzante – the man who prepared the '95 Le Mans winning F1.

Gallery: McLaren F1 GTR for sale

It’s still quite bare inside and will seat two rather than three but the driver does maintain the iconic central driving position – still one of the coolest ever design traits for any car.

And then there are the upwards-opening doors, orange paintwork, OZ alloy wheels and gorgeous design – no supercar-loving millionaire should be without an F1 in their collection.

With a 6.1-litre V12 engine supplied by BMW, the 1996 McLaren F1 GTR develops 600bhp and 388lb/ft of pulling power.

This power means the 1,012kg hypercar will accelerate from 0-62mph in around 3 seconds before hitting a top speed of 220mph.

A reworking of the car’s gearing should enable a top speed of around 240mph with this GTR more focussed on acceleration rather than outright speed.

The cost for Britain’s greatest automotive achievement?

This McLaren F1 GTR will cost you £1.4 million – but it’s not bad value for F1 ownership. The last road-going McLaren F1 went for £2.53 million at auction last year.

The £1 million saved by purchasing this GTR can go towards running costs. When Tiff Needell test drove this model Fifth Gear he said it will do 6mpg with a 6,000 mile service costing £30,000.

In the feature, where he pitched the F1 against against the Ferrari Enzo, he said it is “the most exciting road car ever built” and “still the baby”. 

Despite being launched 16 years ago, the McLaren F1 can still cut it among the hypercar elite. Top Gear pitched a standard F1 against a Bugatti Veyron in the UAE in the most recent series with the Veyron only just beating it – despite having 400bhp more.

To this day it is still the greatest British sports car and only the new Aston Martin One-77 comes anywhere close.

McLaren built 105 F1s in total, consisting of 64 standard models, five LMs, three GTs, 28 GTRs and five prototypes,

This McLaren F1 GTR is for sale with luxury car specialists DK Engineering in Hertfordshire.

It’s the second most expensive production car to ever appear on Auto Trader following last year’s Koenigsegg CCXR which was on the market for a cool £1.5 million.

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