McLaren F1 GTR sells for £3.2m

A McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail' has just sold at auction in America for $5,280,000. In proper money, that's just over £3.2m. A lot, therefore.

It's Team BMW Motorsport's McLaren F1 GTR, and the first of the Longtails to record a victory. This car took the top spot at Hockenheim and Helsinki in 1997, and finished on the podium several other times too. Now it's taken a podium position at Gooding & Co's Scottsdale auction; a sale that took in a whopping $49,461,550 over the weekend.

Though this McLaren F1 GTR wasn't the most expensive car on Gooding's lot: that honour went to - what else? - a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet, which sold for $6,160,000.

Still, that McLaren, chassis #021R, came in under its expected target price of $7m. That makes it quite the bargain if you ask us, complete as it is with a massive 5.9-litre, 600bhp BMW V12, rare materials, iconic ‘FINA' livery and a recent full restoration from McLaren.

So, that's the top two spots taken, but which came in at number three? Another Ferrari, this one a 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series I Coupe, that sold for $3,300,000. Pocket money, then.

Check out our gallery of the finest cars from the Gooding auction. And get saving for next year...

Yep, it's BMW's mid-engined supercar - the original M car - and the one that donated its engine to the very first M5. A 3.5-litre straight six with 277bhp, to be specific. This particular M1 - one of only 399 made - has covered just 2,700 miles from new, boasts single family ownership for over 20 years, and even comes with a BMW tool kit and service history.

Quite a significant outlay, but then this is quite a significant car. It's part of Ferrari's über special hypercar line (which this year gets a new incarnation as TheFerrariTheFerrari). Underneath there's a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V8 producing 400bhp, and though it's completely unrestored, it has been documented by Ferrari historian Marcel Massini. It's also quite red, really quite loud, and really bloody fast.

A one-off design built for the 1954 LA Motor Show and based on the top-spec Alfa 1900 C SS. It's also a multiple award winner, is eligible for driving events, finished to concours-level and features a 2.0-litre 115bhp engine with a live rear axle. Quite a lot of want, here.

Now we're talking. One of just 13 works team cars built, this very A110 competed in 1973, is currently eligible for international driving events, gets lots of history, a 1.8-litre 4cyl engine with 175bhp and independent suspension. It also looks the nuts, and was the inspiration for the gloriously bonkers A110-50: that 400bhp mid-engined Renault concept we saw a couple of years back.

It would be remiss of us to overlook this car, because while it's another Ferrari 250 GT up for auction, it's still a Ferrari 250 GT; one of the world's most beautiful cars. Chris Evans even let James drive his 250 a while ago on TG telly.

A predecessor to the modern S-Class Coupe, this was, erm, an S-Class coupe of its day (that day being the mid ‘50s), long before the top dollar Merc was called ‘S'. It's one of just 98 SCs built, boasts single ownership for 30 years, features a 3.0-litre straight-six underneath producing a heady 175bhp, and remains a proper Benz.

A history of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class

No, it's not how The Jetsons' car would've looked in Soviet USSR: this is the Facel Vega. This example is considered to be the very first one delivered to the US, is one of 32 built and now remains one of 15 still alive in the world, complete with a 200bhp V8 underneath.

You know a car is worth millions when even the auctioneers don't know how much it's worth before auction. It's a barn-find 330, number five of just 99 examples built with less than 23,000 miles from new. It's never been shown, restored or offered for public sale, and has been in the same family for over 40 years. What do you get for your cash? Those looks, for starters. Oh, and a 300bhp 4.0-litre V12.

Something a little more on the affordable side - comparatively, obviously - but something that's also really bloody cool. It's an extremely rare 750 GT, with just three owners from new, complete with a rebuilt and really quite dinky 747cc 4cyl engine boasting 43bhp. Awww!