THE Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix was a major event, but a bigger eye-popper was the sale of the first GMA S1 LM chassis at a special RM Sotheby’s auction in the same city.
The hammer falling at a whopping $20.63m — that’s $31.7m Aussie dollars and made it one of the most expensive new cars ever sold at auction.
The S1 LM is a very special thing and only five will be built.
The first is yet to be built, and that’s the point.
The winning bidder gets to sit down with designer Gordon Murray to build their own S1 LM.
GMA will build only four more.
What’s even more interesting is that all five cars have already been spoken for — all bought by the same mystery man.
He will keep one and decide who to sell his remaining four to.
What makes the car so prestigious is that its creator is Gordon Murray.
He’s the South African-born F1 design genius who became chief designer at Brabham when he was just 26.
Then he went on to McLaren, where the cars he designed — including the MP4/4 in which Ayrton Senna captured his first F1 championship — won an astounding 75 per cent of their races.
Needing a new challenge, Murray left Formula 1 to build the best road car he could create.
That car, the McLaren F1, is one of the greatest sports cars of all time, the grandpa of today’s super- and hypercars.
Though Murray designed the F1 for road, buyer demand prompted him to build a racing version.
The F1 GTR made history by winning the world’s most gruelling endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on its first try, in 1995.
F1 GTRs also finished third, fourth, and fifth.
In 2017, Murray formed his own company, GMA (Gordon Murray Automotive,) and its first car was the T.50.
Unveiled in 2020, it had a mid-mounted V-12 that made 653 hp (480kW) and used a six-speed manual transmission.
How quick is it to 60 mph (100km/h), he was asked?
“I have no idea and I don’t care,” he said.
“This car is all about driving enjoyment and engagement.”
All four of GMA’s models sold in a blink.
Then Murray developed the S1 LM, which has a driveline loosely based on that of the T.50.
Displacement of the Cosworth V-12 is up from 3.0 to 4.3 liters, horsepower is now over 690 (508kW), and the redline is at an ear-splitting 12,100 rpm.
However, the man who bought the five S1 LMs has a riveting story of his own.
He spoke to a few media folk at the auction on condition his name would not be mentioned.
In his own words:
“I was born in a tiny village in northeast Morocco — no running water, no electricity — to parents who never went to school.
“As humble beginnings as you can get, but from a really young age I always loved cars, especially sports cars.
“That fuelled my ambition, because I realised to get close to any of them I had to make real money.
“It was a selfish thing, but I also wanted to look after my family.
“I dropped out of school at 16, got into business, did well at an early age, retired my dad when I was 19 years old.
“I remember the first time I went to London, going to the [McLaren F1] Park Lane store and pushing my head against that glass, just staring at this thing.
“It felt like a spaceship. It was so beautiful, so ahead of its time and it just looked like it was worth every penny.
“That’s when I became a fan, learning more about Gordon’s history – the F1, the Brabham fan car, the MP4/4.
“Another hero of mine is Aryton Senna, which is why I had a bespoke P1 GTR made called ‘Beco’, celebrating his 1988 world championship.
“I’ve ordered all five (S1 LMs) and will be able to decide who gets one – but it has to be the right kind of person, not someone after a shiny object, someone who understands its meaning, its importance and who’ll use it in the way it’s been designed.
“I’ve only spoken to a few people about it and word is already out – let’s just say I’ve got three or four times more demand than cars available already.
“The truth is, this isn’t really about me.
“All I’m doing is pushing and enabling Gordon’s true expression, his philosophy of what a car is.
“I’m just in the background, it’s him. It has his badge. This car exists because of Gordon’s legacy.
“When the project was green lit, all the happiness and the joy was dampened because we found out about his condition.
“At Goodwood last year, after he completed his treatment successfully, his wife met me and said: “This car saved Gordon’s life. Working on it was the one thing that gave some relief.”
“It’s been very emotional. This car deserves a story and a buildup because, look, I want to deliver on the design and the engineering art, but it has to be pure driving perfection.
“This will be the best driver’s car ever.”
For the record, this sale ranked 20th in the most expensive cars sold at auction, if you exclude charity lots.
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe is by far the most expensive, at $142 million (AU $214m), followed by a slew of Ferraris and Mercedes race cars, plus two Aston Martins, a Jaguar, and a Duesenberg.
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