Gordon Murray S1 LM Breaks Auction Record With £15.75M Sale

The 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix was one to forget for the McLaren F1 team, with its double disqualification that might have just blown the drivers’ championship wide open at the last minute. The race’s surrounding festivities, though, have at least been better for things inspired by McLarens, with one of five F1-honouring Gordon Murray S1 LMs hitting hitherto-unseen heights at an accompanying RM Sotheby’s auction.

The S1 LM, in case you’ve somehow forgotten about it stealing the show at Monterey Car Week earlier this year, is one of the first products from Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, the new division aimed at those who, somehow, find the ‘regular’ Gordon Murray Automotive products – the T.50 and T.33 – to be a bit too common.

Murray, of course, was the mastermind behind the McLaren F1, and the S1 LM nods to that car – specifically the F1 GTR racing version that won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans outright. It gets styling inspired by the F1, a six-speed manual gearbox, and a bigger 4.3-litre version of GMA’s Cosworth-built naturally aspirated V12 that develops 710bhp at an astounding 12,100rpm.

All five production units were commissioned by the same wealthy, anonymous buyer, but they’re planning on sharing the joy with others they consider worthy, which began by offering up the fifth and final chassis at this auction.

Such a special thing was never likely to underperform, but the final hammer price of $20,630,000 – around £15,750,000 – not only matches the original estimate, but sets a new world record for new cars sold at auction. Well, sort of – charitable sales like the $26 million fetched for the last-ever Ferrari Daytona SP3 earlier this year still beat it, but in terms of private, for-profit new car sales, this is the new standard-bearer.

The S1 LM show car was even flown in for the auction, dangling beneath a helicopter, although thankfully for the nerves of everyone planning on bidding on it, that wasn’t the actual car being offered. That’s not been built yet, and the winning bidder will now get to work closely with Murray himself on specifying it. In the unlikely event that said winning bidder is reading this, we’d love to know what you’ve got planned for the car. And to have a go in it. Please.