1 of 3 | British actor Rowan Atkinson attends the premiere of "Johnny English Reborn" at Empire, Leicester Square in London. UPI/Rune Hellestad |
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OXFORDSHIRE, England, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- British comedic actor Rowan Atkinson is selling his McLaren F1 for roughly $15 million, significantly more than the twice-wrecked supercar would be worth if this particular one wasn't somewhat of an icon to cheeky gearheads aware of its storied history.
Atkinson, who purchased the McLaren new for £540,000 in 1997, famously used the supercar not as a weekend treat, but a daily driver, taking his kids to school and picking up groceries in a vehicle that can casually travel up over 200 miles per hour and tops out at 240.
"It was never bought as an investment," the man famous for playing Mr. Bean told The Telegraph.
"I bought it for the quality of the thinking that went into its design, and now it has become a thing of value, it is time for it to be enjoyed by someone else."
Atkinson and his McLaren quickly became the stuff of car enthusiast legend, twice crashing while running mundane errands. One of those wrecks cost Atkinson the equivalent of $1.4 million according to The Scotsman.
Atkinson, a noted car enthusiast who crashes far more than just this McLaren, purchased the F1 because it offered supercar performance, while, in his mind, still allowing enough room for his family and their luggage.
"Look at a modern supercar of comparable performance and it will be vast, heavy and offer little or no space for your luggage. By comparison the F1 is tiny, yet it will seat three, store enough for you all to go on holiday and still finds space for a proper, normally aspirated 6.1-litre V12 engine. And it weighs the same as a shopping car. Nothing has ever been designed before or since with such imagination and clarity of thought."
