Twenty million, six hundred and thirty thousand US dollars. That’s how much the Gordon Murray S1 LM supercar sold for, officially garnering the highest sale price for a new car sold at auction, excluding charity lots.
The record-setting moment happened at the amfAR charity’s Gala Dinner in Las Vegas, held in association with the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix. The sale grants the owner the chance to “participate in final development test drives, offering personal feedback on performance to further optimize the car to their individual taste.”
The buyer also receives a 500-page monograph chronicling the S1 LM’s development from initial sketches to final assembly. As one of only five cars ever produced – and carrying the final chassis number – it’s among the rarest modern supercars to hit an auction block. The design pays tribute to the 1995 Le Mans–winning McLaren F1 GTR, one of Murray’s most celebrated creations.
The “S1” stands for “Special One.” And here’s the kicker: when the car was first announced, all five examples were purchased by a single collector. Imagine dropping around $100 million on a complete set of five limited-edition hypercars.
“This world record auction result is a defining moment for our entire team and for the automotive world. The S1 LM represents everything I have learned in six decades of design – a pure expression of driving perfection, engineering art, and a true return to beauty. To see it achieve this scale of appreciation is truly humbling,” said Professor Gordon Murray CBE.
So what, beyond rarity and lineage, makes the car so special? Under the rear deck sits a 4.3-liter V12 that produces over 710 horsepower at 12,100 rpm and 370 lb-ft (501 Nm) of torque.
Better still, 81% of that torque is available from just 2,500 rpm, thanks to lighter internals and a higher compression ratio. The Cosworth-built engine is paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. Yes, a proper manual in a multimillion-dollar hypercar.
There’s also a bespoke Inconel exhaust system wrapped in 18-karat gold heat shielding, and Murray’s patented three-seat layout with the driver in the center. The suspension blends road-car comfort with race-car precision, while ultra-thin carbon fiber body panels (just six-tenths of a millimeter thick in places) help keep weight down to an astonishing 2,110 lb (957 kg).
Even the finer details are obsessed with weight savings: the handbrake, pedals, and center console are all bespoke lightweight components. The shift knob is a quartz crystal shaped into a droplet, containing liquid oil that has been trapped for millions of years – one of those wonderfully eccentric touches only a hyper-rare car like this could get away with.
The S1 LM borrows the technological foundation of the GMA T.50 but quickly diverges into a machine with its own identity. It embodies Gordon Murray's core philosophies: driving purity, minimal weight, engineering artistry, exclusivity, and a meticulously curated customer experience.
If charity lots were included, the S1 LM would rank 20th among the most expensive cars ever sold at auction. At the top of that list sits the ultra-exclusive 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé at $142 million. The rest is filled with blue-chip legends from Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and the occasional unicorn Jaguar.
So where does that leave the S1 LM? At $20 million, it’s undeniably expensive. And with only five ever built, unquestionably exclusive. If you have a fortune to burn, there are far worse ways to spend it.
Source: Gordon Murray
