McLaren F1 GTR up for auction at the Quail

Six-hundred horsepower seems rather paltry figure these days. Sure, it was big stuff when Ferrari introduced the 599 more than a half-decade ago. But these days, Ford will sell you a lowly Mustang with 650 ponies and a factory warranty. Where, pray tell, is the prestige in that?

Though even the Chevrolet Corvette wasn't making 400 hp in 1997 and the megabucks Lamborghini Diablo SV was making do with 510 hp, 600-hp sports-racing cars were nothing new at the time. After all, it's only a third of what Porsche's 1973 917/30 was reputed to pump out in qualifying trim. But there's a 600-hp car, and then there's a 600-hp car that weighs less than a ton, that's decked out in Gulf/Davidoff livery and happened to be built by the very manufacturer that Porsche replaced at the top of the Can-Am heap—McLaren.

Based on the fabled F1, this F1 GTR Longtail is chassis No. 028R and was piloted by Andrew Gilbert-Scott, Geoff Lees, Anders Olofsson and John Neilsen. They contested FIA GT four-hour races at the N

By Davey G. Johnson