Used car prices are through the roof these days. They’ve been driven sky-high by increased demand for a dwindling stock of vehicles that has been hit by the never-ending chip and other shortages.
This trend isn’t limited to everyday cars that you or I might be in the market for, oh no. Billionaires are also feeling the pinch as they attempt to add to their ever-expanding, expensive garages.
Recently, we covered the sale of a Porsche Carrera GT that was up for auction and set a new record price of $1,500,000. Now, a near-mint McLaren P1 has smashed that ticket price and set a new record for the most expensive car ever sold on an online auction.
The car in question is a 2015 McLaren P1 that has covered just 433 miles with one previous owner.
One of just 375 P1s produced by McLaren in Woking, the car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8 coupled with a 177 HP electric motor. In total, the car’s new owner will have 903 HP at their disposal when they sit behind the wheel for the first time.
Because that’s the thing, this car has been sold unseen. Meaning that the mogul happy to part with $1.6 million in order to add this car to the garage has never seen it in the flesh, or fiber.
Maybe hesitation around buying a million-dollar car without actually seeing it for yourself might explain why this car could arguably be called a bargain.
Hear me out here. Despite hitting this eye-watering figure, this is one of the cheapest P1s sold at auction. In fact, it sold for just a hair over the car’s original retail price of $1,350,000.
Add to that the options that this car comes specced with, such as something called Fire Black Elite paint, gloss carbon fibre trim, contrasting badging, and satin black wheels encased in Pirelli P Zero tires. That’s a lot of car for $1.6 million.
It’s a bang for your buck, and the sale gets even better when you consider the previous auction prices the P1 has hit.
In 2018, two P1s sold for more than this at physical auctions.
A silver P1 from 2015 had covered just 360 miles and surpassed $1.7 million at a Bonhams auction, and a black example from the same year also hit $1.7 million during a Gooding & Company sale.
That figure was beaten by a Volcano Red P1 that hit $1.98 million in a Sotheby’s sale.
But, that isn’t even the most expensive P1. This title belongs to an electric blue example that reached $2,392,500 at a Gooding & Company auction in 2017.
Along with the standard eye-watering performance you’ve known to love, this P1 came with a bespoke finish and tons of personalized touches.
Nicknamed “The Professor”, this P1 was finished in blue with black and red details. It was also one of just two P1s to be fitted with specially molded seats, and inside has a passenger side vanity mirror engraved with the phrase, “You look beautiful”. That’s exactly the morale-boosting message I want whenever I hop in my $2 million car.
So there you have it, four very good reasons why a $1.6 million hybrid hypercar could be seen as a bargain. Now, find your nearest billionaire and convince them to buy one so that you can have a ride.