McLaren F1 car that kickstarted Lewis Hamilton’s career sells for £2m

2006 McLaren MP4-21

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £2m
As Lewis Hamilton settles in with Ferrari, it’s not unrealistic to imagine that confirmed relics relating to his ground-breaking F1 debut with McLaren might one day be valued at multiples of what they are worth today. So, while £2m isn’t an insignificant sum this MP4-21 could prove to have been a bargain having been unquestionably one of the first McLaren grand prix cars tested by Hamilton as a 21-year-old. It was subsequently campaigned by Juan Pablo Montoya in the first three races of the 2006 season. Fully restored by McLaren Racing Heritage in ’19, it is once again ready for the track.

1972 Ginetta G15

Sold by Bonhams Cars Online, £10,948
Unused since the vendor acquired it in 2024, this race car had previously been in the same hands for 40 years during which it racked up multiple victories in the HSCC’s Historic Road Sports series.

1994 Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £975,000
Regarded by many as the ultimate restomods, Singer’s superbly upgraded 964 model 911s have attracted a worldwide following and a lengthy waiting list. This had 2103 miles on the clock.

2021 Ariel Atom 4

Sold by Collecting Cars, £53,000
A quarter-century after launch, the Ariel Atom remains one of the quickest cars on the planet. This generation four version had covered just 40 miles and featured Honda’s 350bhp 2-litre engine.

2022 Audi RS6 Avant Vorsprung

Sold by Historics, £91,520
Subtracting £91,520 from the £121,900 paid for this 190mph wagon when new reveals that every one of the 804 miles covered by the owner cost £38. It was loaded with extras.

1908 Renault VS Vanderbilt Cup replica

Sold by Bonhams, £69,000
The 10 original Vanderbilt Cup racing cars built for US tycoon William Kissem Vanderbilt Jr featured 7.4-litre lorry engines. This painstakingly built replica made do with a mere 4.5 litres.

1987 Bentley Eight

Sold by SwvA, £1815
Ultimate rat rod? This Bentley’s glory days had been and gone but, for £1800, it was surely worth picking up where the previous owner left off. It was running, driving and had a tidy interior, too.

1955 Jaguar XK140

Sold by Historics, £23,452
As Frank Sinatra said, “Regrets, I have a few…” – the latest of which is not keeping an eye on the final Historics sale of 2024, which yielded this delightfully honest XK140 that sold for a fraction of what it would have made five years ago.

Forthcoming sale highlights

• Bonhams Online, Milton Keynes, January 17-27
  Looking to snag an out-of-season two-wheeled snip? Our guess is that this Bonhams sale will be the place to find one. Offerings with the potential for easy improvement before the spring include a 1979 Honda CBX1000 estimated to fetch £3,500-£5,500, a 1998 Ducati 900SS at around £1000 and a slew of small-capacity British classics valued at £500 or less.
• RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, Arizona, January 24
  RM Sotheby’s returns to its traditional Biltmore Hotel venue for this year’s foray at Arizona Car Week, where it will offer an eclectic range of classics from the headlining 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ at £2.8m-£3.6m to a 1959 £16,000 Vespa microcar. You could also bid for a table made from a Ferrari 458 engine.
• Bonhams, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 24
  One of the more interesting lots on offer at Bonhams’ first live car sale of 2025 is a Land Rover Series II originally owned by myopic playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe’s third and final husband. Also up for grabs will be a brace of 1980s Nissan Skyline race cars, and a Lamborghini Miura that’s a dead ringer for the famed The Italian Job example.
• SWVA, Poole, January 30
  If you’re prepared to face the gloom of a British winter and head to the possibly wind-whipped coast, this inaugural SWVA sale of 2025 could yield some bargains. A tidy 1961 Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, for example, comes from a consignor who has moved abroad, and a very rare 1965 Ford Zodiac Farnham estate is being relinquished after 23 years in the same ownership.