Every year, the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir comes alive as it plays host to one of the most action-packed opening races on the Formula 1 racing calendar. But this past weekend, the legendary race circuit took center stage for something equally awe-inspiring and impressive: a collection of not one, not two, but a staggering 20 exquisite examples of McLaren road cars.
This is the ‘Last Of Legends’ collection curated and spec’d by none other than the late McLaren Billionaire shareholder Mansour Akram Ojjeh (1952-2021), a pivotal figure in the British marque’s storied history, besides Ron Dennis, Gordon Murray, and founder Bruce McLaren himself. Now, after years in private storage, the collection is coming up for sale, and the Ojjeh family has entrusted Tom Hartley Jnr with the sale. The U.K.-based firm has also previously handled the sale of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s 69 Grand Prix F1 cars.
Mansour Ojjeh’s Legacy
Born to a French mother and Saudi father, Akram Ojjeh Mansour was educated in California, which is where his love for cars really took off. During his youth, he owned everything from a Lamborghini Countach to a Rolls-Royce Corniche. The man once even had a stunning Ferrari collection with models like a 250 California Spyder and a 288 GTO, to name a few. But his dream was to build the ultimate McLaren road car collection, and the result of those efforts, going back several decades, is what lies in front of us.
Ojjeh’s journey with motorsport began in the late 1970s, early ‘80s, after he took over as CEO of Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG), the Luxembourg-based investment firm that has stakes in everything from aviation and Formula 1 to luxury goods. While TAG sponsored Williams in 1979, it was Mansour’s decision to sponsor McLaren in 1984 that changed everything.
That move bankrolled the legendary TAG-Porsche engines, launching an era of F1 dominance that would pretty much define the 1980s. Over the following four decades, Ojjeh’s influence and oversight helped McLaren deliver 10 Drivers’ and seven Constructors’ championships. But more crucially, his financial backing also helped lay the building blocks of McLaren Automotive and was key to bringing cars like the record-breaking McLaren F1 to life.
Mansour Ojjeh’s ‘Last Of Legends’ Collection
Each of the 20 cars seen here is the final chassis of its respective line. What this means is that the cars received all the major updates and revisions made during the production cycle. Also, every car in the collection is on delivery miles, with the exception of the crown Jewel of the collection, #075, or the final McLaren F1 road car ever built, which has 1,810 kilometers (1,124 miles), and the Frank-Stephenson-designed P1 GTR, used occasionally for McLaren track days.
Other stunning cars in the collection include models like the open cockpit Elva roadster, a Senna (with accents of the Brazilian flag), 250 mph Speedtail, the spiritual successor to the McLaren F1, and currently, the fastest McLaren, the Sabre, and several limited-series cars, including Long-tail variants. Designed exclusively for the U.S. market, the Sabre hypercar is one of just 16 examples ever built by McLaren Special Operations (MSO).
One thing that pretty much ties the entire collection together is the vibrant color. Originally dubbed Yquem, after the Château d’Yquem dessert wine, the shade was renamed ‘Mansour Orange’, and it was not available to any other McLaren customer, making each example a true bespoke one-off.
No collector has received McLaren’s white glove service quite like Ojjeh has, and these cars were maintained by the factory, per his personal specifications. As one of the most complete McLaren collections ever, values are estimated to be anywhere between $70 and $100 million, with the aforementioned #075 McLaren F1 set to account for nearly a quarter of that sum.
Images: Tom Hartley Jnr, McLaren
