The Pink Floyd drummer crashed this McLaren into a wall; now it is worth R$ 175 million

A McLaren F1 GTR that spent 25 years in the garage of Nick Mason, drummer of Pink Floyd, goes up for auction at Monterey Car Week with an estimate above US$ 35 million – about US$ 10 million more than the brand’s current record. The 10R chassis will be offered by auction house RM Sotheby’s between August 13 and 15 and, if it reaches the expected value, it will become the most expensive McLaren ever sold at public auction and also the most valuable British car in history.

The brand today registers US$ 25.3 million, paid in December 2025, in Abu Dhabi, for a 1994 street F1. It’s not just the price that distinguishes the 10R: it’s the first of nine examples built to the 1996 specification and one of only two short-body prototypes that McLaren has kept with it. The other is the 01R, the outright winner of the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.

A street car that went to the tracks

Introduced in 1992 and designed by Gordon Murray, the McLaren F1 is considered one of the greatest supercars of all time. It combines a BMW V12 6.1 engine with 627 hp, a six-speed manual transmission and rear-wheel drive. In 1998, the XP5 prototype reached 386 km/h and set the speed record for a production car. There were 106 units in total.

Although it was not designed to compete, the F1’s performance led McLaren to develop a racing version at the request of customers. The F1 GTR was born, produced in 28 units over three specifications, which won Le Mans in 1995 on its debut. According to the auction house, it was the last race car derived directly from a street super sports car to win the race.

The 1996 version, created to take on more specialized rivals such as the Porsche 911 GT1, received revised aerodynamics, a new front air splitter and more weight cut. Air restrictors required by the regulations limited the V12 to 599 hp.

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From Pink Floyd to the tire wall

The 10R never competed in a race: it ran at Le Mans in 1996 only in testing, and the race was handed over to the chassis brother 11R. McLaren used the car for development and promotion before converting it for street use – the restrictors came out, the headroom went up and it gained silencers – and selling it to Mason in 1999.

It is also the only F1 GTR with a factory-created red and yellow livery inspired by 1990s pop art, earning it the nickname Pop Art F1. In 2017, Mason lost control at a demonstration at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting and crashed into a tire wall. The restoration was carried out by Dean Lanzante, son of Paul Lanzante, who headed the Le Mans-winning team in 1995 with the 01R. Mason sold the car in private negotiation in the first half of 2024, and it is the new owner who takes it to the hammer.