The world's most perfect McLaren F1 could be yours

Imagine, if you will, that it’s 1998. You’ve just won the lottery jackpot and now have the chance to specify your ideal McLaren F1.

Given McLaren’s already stunned the racing world, three years previously, by winning the Le Mans 24 Hours at its first attempt, you’ll be wanting the racing car’s ‘High Downforce Package’, which adds a lower front splitter, fixed rear wing and bigger diffuser. And some lightweight multispoke centrelock wheels to go with that.

Of course, to drag that extra aero through the air, you’ll need the race-spec V12 engine, but free of its pesky FIA-mandated air restrictors, which limit power to around 600bhp.

Free to breath naturally, your race-engine McLaren F1 will develop 691bhp – 64bhp more than the ‘ordinary’ F1. Which, a couple of years back, set a production car speed record of 241mph. That’ll do nicely.

Now, your newly minted self isn’t just going to squirrel this Goldilocks-spec F1 away for special occasions. You want to use it, to drive it. So you’ll have the fully-upholstered road spec interior, complete with leather, air-conditioning, and the lightweight Kenwood CD player. This is a road car, after all, just as Gordon Murray intended.

Mouth-watering recipe, isn’t it? And a real one. Yes, in addition to the five F1 LMs McLaren built – all painted orange – to celebrate its Le Mans sweep, Woking also built just two F1 ‘LM Specification’ editions, combining the derestricted engine and track-ready bodywork with the creature comforts of the ‘standard F1’. It’s possibly the most painfully perfect supercar ever created.

Fast-forward from 1998 to the present day, or, more pertinently, 13-14 August 2015, and you’ll be able to buy this very car. Yes, this McLaren – one of the two F1 LM-Spec examples – is up for auction in Monterey, California.

It’s not going to be cheap. Back in 1998 this would’ve cost the thick end of a million quid. Lately the market for McLaren F1s has got a bit steep, with British actor Rowan Atkinson selling his twice-crashed F1 earlier this year for a reported £8 million. Expect this immaculate LM-Spec to crack eight (British) figures. Gulp.

So it’s a tad pricey. On the other hand, what price can you put on possibly the most perfect supercar ever made? And can you, in fact, do better? Submit your fantasy configurations below…