McLaren Solus GT & McLaren F1 LM

The Solus GT began as a virtual car. In 2017 McLaren designed the Vision Gran Turismo concept for Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo Sport — a single-seat closed-cockpit hypercar that existed only in software. Five years later, McLaren announced it would build the car for real, with deliveries beginning in 2023. There would be 25 of them, all already sold.

The production specification stays unusually close to the video-game brief. The chassis is a bespoke carbon-fibre monocoque with 3D-printed titanium components in the halo and roll structure. The engine is a 5.2-litre Judd-derived naturally aspirated V10 with individual barrel-driven throttle bodies, gear-driven camshafts and a 10,000 rpm redline, producing approximately 829 horsepower (840 PS) and 479 lb-ft (650 N⋅m) of torque. The gearbox is a Le Mans Prototype-spec 7-speed sequential, sending drive only to the rear wheels. McLaren quotes 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 322 km/h (200 mph).

The car is not road legal — McLaren positioned it explicitly as a track-only owners' programme with bespoke driver coaching, race-suit fitting and event support. Dry weight is under 1,000 kg, and downforce at speed is approximately 1,200 kg, meaning the Solus GT can theoretically generate more grip from aerodynamics than from its own mass. The list price was reported at approximately £3 million / US$5.2 million, which makes it one of the most expensive non-Le-Mans McLarens ever built.

On 18 June 1995, a McLaren F1 GTR driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright — McLaren's first attempt and a result almost unthinkable on paper, with five F1 GTRs finishing in the top thirteen against purpose-built prototypes. Gordon Murray, who designed the original F1 as a road car with no racing intent at all, had reluctantly let the team be turned into a Le Mans entry. McLaren's response to the win was to build five road cars in tribute — one for each F1 GTR that finished the race.

The F1 LM took the same BMW S70/2 6.1-litre V12 engine as the F1 GTR but removed the air-restrictors that the regulations required for racing. Power rose to approximately 671 hp / 680 PS — the highest of any naturally aspirated V12 road car of its era — and weight dropped by approximately 76 kg compared to the standard road F1, to around 1,062 kg. The interior lost its noise insulation, audio system and almost any concession to comfort. The fan-assisted ground-effect underbody from the GTR was removed for road legality, but a fixed rear wing replaced the standard car's active aero.

All five F1 LMs were finished in Papaya Orange, McLaren's racing colour. A sixth car, the prototype XP1 LM, was built in 1995 and used by McLaren as a development mule and a test bed for higher-spec engine programmes; Murray himself drove it personally for years. Three of the original five F1 LMs went to the Sultan of Brunei. As of 2023, F1 LMs change hands at auction for figures upward of US$20 million when they appear at all — which is rarely; most owners do not sell.