BMW put on a big show this year at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. It’s where we first saw the M2 CS and the M8-based Speedtop. However, a car doesn’t necessarily have to carry the iconic roundel to pique our interest. Take, for example, this McLaren F1 GTR, an endurance racer fitted with a mighty naturally aspirated V12 engine. The car in question is chassis #11R, initially owned by Fabian Giroix Racing.
It’s believed to have an interesting backstory, not just because of its BMW heart. Legend has it that Mercedes-AMG bought (leased?) the car from its second owner, French racing team Larbre Compétition. It used it as a test mule for what shortly thereafter became the legendary CLK GTR. The endurance racer wore the livery of Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Franck Muller. Before changing hands, it had been driven by Fabien Giroix, Jean-Denis Délétraz, and Didier Cottaz in the FIA GT.
BMW’s S60 powerhouse was removed from the engine bay to make room for AMG’s own M120 engine. Additionally, the original bodywork was stripped off and replaced with a discreet, long-tailed shell, allowing Mercedes to test the car’s aerodynamic qualities without revealing its new identity. It was later secretly tested at the Jarama track in Spain, where it was quick from the start, even setting lap records. However, cooling issues hindered performance. Ultimately, testing came to a halt after Bernd Schneider crashed it into a tire wall.
Despite the setback, Mercedes-AMG managed to ready the car for racing in just a few months. Reports indicate that it was developed in just 128 days. While it never won Le Mans, the CLK GTR was a dominant force in the late 1990s, securing 17 wins, two teams’ titles, and two drivers’ championships across 22 races over two seasons.
Since then, chassis #11R has been restored by McLaren at home in Woking, where it received the signature Papaya livery and a road car conversion. It’s an extremely rare car, considering only 28 F1 GTRs were ever built. Of those, only 18 were short tails like this one. It changed hands several times during its tumultuous life, with Classic Driver reporting the current owner paid €30 million.
