If you’re an avid auto enthusiast and spent a great deal of time on YouTube, you must’ve come across Jay Leno’s Garage. It goes without saying that his garage has one of the tastiest collections of automobiles. The spectrum of cars in his possession is so diverse that an old 1909 Stanley Steamer shares its space with one of the most expensive supercars in the world, the Mclaren F1. 

Jay Leno’s collection goes from motorcycles to exclusive cars that you might’ve never heard of. The way he reviews all of them shows how much he knows about automobiles and equally his interest in them. Thanks to his career in showbiz and a passion for automobiles, Jay has assembled one of the greatest private collections of cars and motorcycles in the world.

Aside from being the most expensive car in Jay Leno’s garage, the Mclaren F1 has been on the top of auction charts across the globe. Here’s a closer look at one of the greatest cars in automotive history.

A Bit Of History

Road And Track

The Mclaren F1 was an idea proposed by Gordon Murray, one of the best F1 designers at the time. The idea was to build a light and powerful automobile that would be the ultimate expression of a road car. The project also involved Ron Dennis and Peter Stevens, with the latter being in charge of the F1’s design. It didn’t take long for Gordon Murray's creation to become a part of the history books. 

One of the important aspects of the Mclaren F1 was its naturally-aspirated engines. Gordon Murray had intentions to source engines from Honda but failed to convince them and instead opted to have a BMW motor. The engine in question is a 6,064 cc (6.1-liter) V12 engine internally called the S70/2. At 618 horsepower, the engine developed by BMW M division was in fact 14% more powerful and 35-pounds heavier than Gordon Murray’s specification. The S70/2 revved to 7,500 rpm and was capable of producing 479 lb-ft of torque ultimately giving the F1 a power-to-weight ratio of 550 hp/ ton.

Keeping in line with the design ethos, the Mclaren F1 used expensive materials such as carbon fiber, titanium, gold, magnesium, and Kevlar in its construction to achieve optimum thermal efficiency whilst being extremely light. The F1 was one of the first production cars to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis. A lot of the subframe components ended up being aluminum and magnesium in order to keep the weight at a minimum. Interestingly, Gordon Murray was inspired by the Toyota Sera’s doors and went on to install the Dihedral mechanism (butterfly doors) in the F1.

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What Makes The Mclaren F1 Desirable

McLaren F1
British GQ

As you might be aware, things of the past are getting expensive, not everything but the stuff of value. By value, we mean something unique or a desire to own, well, that’s exactly what’s there in the F1. For starters, the Mclaren F1 is a highly exclusive model, when launched in 1993 production was limited to just 106 units. Out of these a hefty chunk has met with accidents and has been restored, so you could imagine the worth of an F1 that has a clean title. On top of that, the Mclaren F1 has the formula that entices everyone in the industry. A 6-speed manual gearbox, a screaming V12, three seats with a central driving position (unlike anything that was there in the market), and above all, an uninterrupted driving experience. The Mclaren F1 is a pure driver’s car, it had no ABS, traction control, heck, it doesn’t even have power steering!

I think you’re sort of getting the picture. Not a lot of automobiles even today stand a chance against the F1 in terms of performance. The Mclaren F1 had a top speed of 240 mph! This was at a time when sports cars barely did 200 mph. The level of sophistication and engineering went into the F1 is unlike anything at that time or even today.

Nowadays, you have Koenigseggs and Bugattis in terms of sophistication, but the Mclaren F1 was an engineering marvel with simplicity at its forefront. It did not have a megawatt of power, nor did it weigh as much as a mountain, things were simple yet complicated and that’s something you don’t see these days. It’s hard to put a price on the Mclaren F1 since they range from $8 million to $13.5 million and F1 LMs have been known to go for $19.8 million! Jay’s F1 is estimated to be worth around $12 million.

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The List Goes On

Jay Leno with his Mclaren F1
Via: Youtube

While we took to explain one of the most expensive cars in Jay’s garage, it should be noted that there are many more. His collection includes a $1.35 million Mclaren P1 which is now worth significantly more than list, a $1.8 million 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, a 1963 Chrysler Turbine worth $415,000, and many more. In total Jay owns approximately 286 vehicles (169 cars and 117 motorcycles) which is estimated to worth around a whopping $52 million! By the looks of things, Jay has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Sources: Jay Leno's Garage

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