McLaren developed the Speedtail with a single goal: to create the most aerodynamically efficient vehicle possible. While that superlative might not be as sensational as “fastest,” “quickest,” or “most powerful,” the resulting vehicle is one of the most singularly beautiful machines crafted in the 21st century—and one of just 106 produced is headed to auction.
A member of the “Ultimate Series” family of McLaren’s most exclusive and ambitious vehicles, the British marque’s halo automobile for the first half of the 2020s combines a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with a potent electric motor to produce a staggering 1,035 horsepower and 848 pound-feet of torque. Until the 2024 debut of its successor, the McLaren W1, it was the most powerful and fastest McLaren ever, with a top speed of 250 mph.
But there’s one element of the Speedtail that has yet to be outdone by any of its stablemates: that bod. A 17-foot, teardrop-shaped shell surrounding a centrally positioned driver recalls the aesthetic of vintage racecars, but it was shaped in the dogged pursuit of achieving aerodynamic perfection by keeping airflow “attached” to the vehicle to minimize drag. It was the first production automobile to employ flexible carbon fiber “ailerons” at the rear that bend upward via hydraulic actuators, eliminating the need for traditional shutlines or hinges. To further reduce turbulence, the car features static carbon fiber covers on the front wheels and replaces traditional side mirrors with retractable high-definition cameras that feed video to screens inside the cockpit.
With that strict attention to airlflow, the Speedtail has retained one McLaren record even through the W1 era. While its 3.0-second 0-62 mph time has been surpassed by both the W1 and the P1, the Speedtail’s 12.8-second time to 186 mph is an unbeaten benchmark. In fact, only a handful of hypercars can top it—the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, the Koenigsegg Jesko, and the Rimac Nevera.
To the privileged few who’ve gotten behind the wheel, the performance specs are secondary to its essence. As one of a handful of journalists who test drove the Speedtail, a Hagerty author opined, “The ride is exquisite, the throttle response flawless. As speeds rise and you start to work it a bit, you realize something else too: it’s light. When the choice is lightness or power, I’d choose lightness every time, because power just helps you gain speed, while lightness will slow and turn you around better, too. The steering is quite low-geared so there’s no aggression or nervousness as you come off-center. Feel floods your fingers as confidence floods your brain.” He added, “the fact it has 1,000 bhp has little, if anything, to do with” that sublime driving experience.
While auctioneer RM Sotheby’s hasn’t listed this example’s provenance, it has been assigned an expected hammer price range of $1.95 to $2.35 million ahead of its February 27 sale date in Miami. Against its original retail price of $2.25 million, the Speedtail hasn’t maintained its value over six years—and it’s literally easy to see why.
