As these cars are traditionally sold and acquired quietly behind closed doors, RM Sotheby’s is proud to showcase 1997 McLaren F1 GTR 27R as part of its Sealed program, with bidding opening on Thursday, March 5th. One of only 28 F1 GTRs ever built and just 10 in longtail spec, it represents the moment GT racing tipped into full-blown engineering warfare. With an estimate of $18-$21 million, this is one of the most valuable McLarens in existence.
By the mid-1990s, the F1 GTR had already taken over the racing world, winning outright at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 and forcing rivals like Porsche and Mercedes-Benz to push the rulebook to the limit. McLaren’s response was the longtail, with stretched bodywork, serious downforce, a lighter rear structure, and a reworked 6.0L BMW V-12 designed for precision and durability. The result was a car that weighed just 2,017lbs and looked like it meant business from a hundred yards away.
Delivered new to Ferrari collector David Morrison and his Parabolica Motorsports team, 27R wasted no time proving its worth on the track. Finished in yellow with a blue center stripe, it debuted at Silverstone in the 1997 British GT Championship and dominated, lapping the field to victory and becoming the first longtail F1 GTR to win a race. It went on to contest nine rounds of the FIA GT Championship that season, earning top-six finishes at Silverstone, Nürburgring, and Spa, and even leading an FIA GT race outright as a privateer.
Le Mans followed, with 27R loaned to Team Lark McLaren and re-liveried in its iconic pink-and-grey colors. Driven by a lineup that included Gary Ayles and Keiichi Tsuchiya, the car showed genuine pace before an off ended its run after nightfall. Later in the season, former McLaren Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson would also take the wheel, cementing the car’s period credibility.
After its racing years, 27R aged like a fine wine. Restored and converted for road use by Lanzante, McLaren’s trusted F1 specialists, it retains its original, numbers-matching BMW V12 and is fully UK registered. Today, it’s equally at home blasting up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or cruising public roads. Few cars manage to be historically significant, mechanically authentic, and genuinely usable. Chassis 27R somehow pulls off all three, and that’s why it still stops people mid-sentence nearly three decades later.
