Actually you'll see in the second article on the PressDemocrat site that the actual value and insured value were reversed in the original article. The owner has corrected that to read that it is insured for $2M and worth about $3M.

The value he suggests is not so far fetched, as one special F1 road car did sell for nearly $4M in the UK at auction last year. That car was practically still a new McLaren F1, basically with documented delivery mileage up until 2007, and then just a few hundred KMs covered after that. That price doesn't make all the other F1s worth the same, but certainly helped showcase the fact that interest in the cars is quite strong and that their value will continue to rise. For someone like me who doesn't have theirs yet, that's a little frustrating.

As for an extensive repair ruining the value of a car like the F1 - I don't think so. If repaired, this won't be Moe's Autobody doing the work. It will be rebuilt by the people who built it in the first place, and given McLaren's focus on perfection with these cars, they won't follow through with the job if they can't restore the car to an as-new condition. In fact, the previous owner of this car (chassis #067 btw) had a fairly bad crash in it back in 2000 and so the factory has already been through this once. You might be surprised to know just how many F1s have been through that sort of thing and emerged on the otherside with a new lease on life. Only a few have been written off completely up to this point.

Given the fact there are so few F1s in the world, potential customers can't be too picky. Of course there will be those potential owners who are focused on future values more than getting to own the world's greatest driver's car, and so this car, should it get repaired, won't be for them. Others with intentions to do more than just rub it with a diaper while the value increases over time will look at the evidence in this situation and the fact that McLaren will have given the car a thorough rework and a clean bill of health and will have no issues with purchasing it. Perhaps the sale price won't be quite as high given fewer buyers, but I'd imagine if they can put this car back together that the owner won't lose money on it if he were to ever sell it.

While this may be my first post on Teamspeed - for those who don't know me, I spend a lot of my time focused on just about everything about the McLaren F1 I can find, and therefore know quite a bit more than your average enthusiast when it comes to these cars. I'm sure there are a few participants here already who can vouch for that fact and I am happy to answer any questions.

>8^)
ER

 

Welcome Peloton! Do you know anything else about the owner of this car? He's from my home state and I'm wondering if you had any clues to what else might be in his collection.

Thanks for sharing your wealth of F1 knowledge with us!

 

Nice!!! Peloton is here!!! Always such high quality posts on McLaren!!!

 

Hey Alex-
I don't know a whole lot about Mr Kessler. The best I can offer is post #4 on this page which offers some of the detail you are looking for.

Exige S 240 - price justification? - CarSpace Automotive Forums

Glad to be here with other like-minded folks!

>8^)
ER

 

Just an update for this old thread - a story that was published in SCM in October 2010:

A McLaren F1’s Rise from the Ashes



>8^)
ER

 

^^

Good to see it's back to life

 

Excellent!

 

Success... Great bump... The article puts smile on ones face

 

Mannnn good that it has been recovered but still i hated the burning photos...