Lewis Hamilton-signed McLaren F1 sells for £19m

1994 McLaren F1
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £19M

This was the 14th of the 64 road-spec F1s produced and was originally delivered to the Brunei royal family in Titan Yellow. It subsequently passed through the hands of six owners, the fifth of which sent it back to McLaren for a ground-up rebuild during which it was repainted white, fitted with a high downforce kit, had its interior converted to LM specification – and was signed on the left-hand-side luggage compartment by Lewis Hamilton. All that, plus some other mods, cost a cool £265,000 in 2007. As demonstrated by the sale price, F1 values have gone through the roof.

2026 McLaren F1 MCL40A
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £8.6m

For the first time, a future F1 car has been made available for sale. This 2026 McLaren won’t be delivered to its owner until the first quarter of 2028. The car isn’t officially unveiled until the new year.

1970 Jaguar E-Type
Sold by Iconic auctioneers, Undisclosed

With 72,000 E-types made, it’s not surprising that interesting survivors crop up regularly. This one was exceptional, having been dry-stored for 52 years and showing just 10,534 miles on the clock.

2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT track series
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £342,500

Just 55 Track Series AMG GTs were built in celebration of the tuning firm’s 55th anniversary. Weighing only 1400kg, the GT3-inspired beasts were stripped out and tuned to produce 734bhp.

1985 MG Metro 6R4
Sold by Iconic auctioneers, £219,375

With 410bhp on tap, this was supplied new to Mika Arpiainen and Jarno Mustonen to contest Finland’s Rally of 1000 Lakes in 1986. It failed to finish but won the following year’s Helsinki Rally.

1976 Porsche 911
Sold by Osenat, £102,500

This was one of just 20 2.7-litre, 210bhp Carrera Targas built in 1976. The whole lot was supplied to the Belgian police who requested the Targa top “to make it easier to communicate with other drivers”.

1974 Ford Capri RS3100
Sold by Iconic auctioneers, £50,625

Ford’s Advanced Vehicle Operations built 250 of these Capris with 3.1-litre V6 engines in order to homologate the model for the ETCC. This restored example had retained all of its original features.

1990 Renault 5 GT Turbo
Sold by Artcurial, £61,000

Once it had won its class in the 1990 Ivory Coast-Bandama Rally, this Renault 5 Turbo was wheeled in to the Renault collection in exactly the condition it was in after crossing the finish line – complete with every grain of sand and speck of dirt it picked up along the way.

Forthcoming sale highlights

● Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 17-25
Auctions listed across multiple days tend to be online efforts now – but not in the case of Barrett-Jackson, which stages some of the largest live sales on the planet. This eight-day effort will feature muscle cars, customs and hot rods galore, plus some special moderns. Limited edition Dodge Viper in Snakeskin Green anyone?
● Broad Arrow, January 23-February 1
This Global Icons sale will consist of three separate strands: two online collector car auctions, one for cars based in Europe (including a 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 S) and one for cars in the UK, plus a further online sale of 100 lots of motor sport memorabilia with links to stars including Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Ayrton Senna.

● Gooding Christie’s, Paris, January 29
The first European sale under the new Gooding Christie’s name should set the benchmark for things to come. In addition to the expected slew of high-end and expensive cars, there will be oddities, too – among them a 1983 Fiat Campagnola that competed in the eighth Paris-Dakar Rally and a couple of unusual Fiat beach cars from a single-owner collection.

● SWVA, Poole, January 29
January is often a good time to browse the salerooms with no particular plan other than to snap up anything that looks like a bargain – and there are likely to be plenty available. This SWVA sale will combine a good selection of classics with a few more exotic performance cars. Among the lots is a nicely patinated Rover 100 ‘six’ from ’62 and a good-running 1995 Vauxhall Calibra 2.0 16V.