I will never buy a car without test-driving it first. No matter how much or how little I’m about to fork over, I need to know with my own senses how a car feels to drive before the deal is done. Even if it’s a brand-new, right-off-the-boat vehicle that I’ve previously had as a press car, I’ll make sure to take mine for a test drive first to make sure everything matches up.
A test drive is one of the most important parts of the car-buying process, and skipping it could mean missing out on valuable info like weird noises, sketchy brakes, inconsistent power delivery, tired suspension—the list goes on. On a new car, it can reveal manufacturing defects, missing parts, or stuff that hasn’t been removed in the delivery process (like those shipping blocks that sit in springs for transport).
My point is, it seems pretty nuts to me to buy a car without driving it first. That’s why I’m so surprised to see that someone just dropped $20,630,000 on a Gordon Murray S1 LM that neither they nor anyone else has driven before.
What’s The Big Deal?
I can sort of understand why someone would drop $20 million on something like a McLaren F1 at auction. Countless reviews of the car from trusted sources say it’s one of the best-driving vehicles ever built. It also has a serious racing pedigree, having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.
Those are the same reasons why someone would spend $50 million on an old Ferrari or nearly triple that on an old Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR—the most expensive vehicle ever sold at auction. These cars have a powerful history behind them, and lots of people singing their praises.
The S1 LM, meanwhile, has none of that. No one has ever driven it, raced it, or even seen it on the move. Gordon Murray hasn’t built any operational examples—the car you see here is a display buck with no powertrain. The sale was for the last production slot, not for an actual car that exists.
If I were bidding on this car, how it drives would be at the top of my mind. How could I commit an eight-figure sum to a vehicle if I don’t know how it feels? What if it’s bad? Even if I were a billionaire, I’d be pretty mad I just blew $20 million on a car that’s not any fun. Would I be able to get my money back in this case? That’s not how auctions work? Oh, okay then.
I’m Sure It’ll Be Fine, But My Brain Can’t Take It
Of course, there’s a near-zero chance the S1 LM will be a dud. It’s the brainchild of Gordon Murray, the guy who conceived the McLaren F1. His company, Gordon Murray Automotive, more recently built the T.50, a modern F1 redux that people seem to love. Plus, the specs are pretty ridiculous. How can a four-liter Cosworth V12 revving to 11,500 RPM and a manual transmission in a car that weighs less than a modern Miata be bad?
Even if it is bad, the lucky buyer of this car might be able to change that. Along with the car itself, the auction winner will get the opportunity to participate in the car’s final development process. They’ll even get to join chief test driver and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti on development drives. So theoretically, they’ll be able to tell engineers what they don’t like and have those things addressed before final delivery. Of course, this is all happening after the auction, so if there’s something that can’t be changed, they’re out of luck.
I’m sure whoever won this auction is going to have an incredible time driving the S1 LM. This sale is just the latest in a growing trend of carmakers being able to extract millions of dollars from people just on clout and name recognition alone. Plus, if the person who bought this didn’t want it for some reason, the healthy bidding suggests there are plenty of others who would line up for the chance.
My brain can’t calculate spending even $1,500 on a car without driving it first, much less $20 million. So being able to take that kind of gamble with such a large sum must be nice. I guess there are levels to this.
Top graphic image: RM/GMA
It’s not like it’s ever going to be driven anyway. It’s going to sit in some air conditioned warehouse in Saudi Arabia.
There is a very interesting backstory on how this car came about:
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-reads/s1-lm-story-car-saved-gordon-murrays-life-man-who-ordered-it
That was a weird and interesting story. I am comfortably retired but I just can’t conceive having that kind of money. If I did, I probably would not have spent it on cars. Probably aircraft.
Buying this with no test drive would be as concerning to me as marrying the woman of my dreams with no test drive – risky in theory only.
I won’t compare appreciation and resale value as time goes, lest I be misunderstood
Lots of people buy cars without test drives, for the simple reason that they simply don’t care how it drives.
Foolish people will always find foolish ways to spend their foolish moneys.
How many years (decades?) worth of Shitbox Showdown cars could $20 million buy?
If it was me, that would be the more interesting concept. Think of the stories, the adventures, the (mostly horrible) things you’d learn. You could make untold stories of adventure fodder. SWG could quit his day job, I’d hire him as a full-time wrencher and writer.
I’d catch and release the good cars after some tinkering and maintenance to good people who needed a reliable wheels in a pinch. I’d ask them to tell me why they were good candidates, and off it would go for $1. Today’s Toyota wagon would get fresh fluids, new belts, new brakes, new tires and a happy new home for somebody who could really use a break in life.
The junk mobiles would either be safely disposed of and parted out so that they could never endanger another person on our highways, or turned into some Mad Max-style racing series in the boonies the the Southwestern desert.
Instead we get a story of some wanker and his bespoke car that will sit in a climate-controlled garage until the next outrage filler piece comes along. Ugh, boring.
The rich are so banal.
Just another laundry day in the Cayman Islands. Nothing to see here.
I bought a $1,400 car at auction in Japan, so I guess I am under Brian’s self-imposed limit.
Really wouldn’t have expected my whimsical automotive guilty pleasure read to be the thing that consistently exposed me to the most radicalizing content, but here we are.
I like Gordon Murray’s cars, but by way of some math, $20m is enough to provide 10 families with more than the median income in interest forever.
I mean it doesn’t matter if it sucks because they’re never going to be driven after it comes out either.
It depreciates x% as soon as you drive it off the lot. LOL
Buyer brings skycrane…
Can’t depreciate if it never drives off the lot.
That an amusing visual. Or maybe a Chinook.
They do this for the same reason I’ll drop $50 on a kickstarter by my favorite band. It’s a small enough amount of money that it won’t meaningfully inconvenience me if it all goes sideways. A billionaire can lose $20 million and still be a billionaire. Hell, if it goes badly enough they probably write it off on their taxes and somehow come out ahead.
Keep the gains for yourself and socialize the losses. Capitalism in a nutshell…
Nobody really cares how these billionaire’s codpieces drive – they almost never get driven. They get bought mostly to show that you CAN buy one.
That said, it IS a Gordon Murray design, so chances are very good it will be exceptional. I am sure the owner will enjoy every one of the 200 miles it gets driven before being auctioned off to the next billionaire.
As for test driving cars – meh, whatever. Obviously I couldn’t test drive either of the two BMWs I ordered new and picked up in Munich. I couldn’t even test drive examples equipped as I ordered them, given how rare both 6spd RWD e91s and 6spd slicktop M235is were. My test drives were my “victory laps” around the inside of Der Welt. Also bought a number of cars via eBay sight-unseen. Didn’t test drive my current Mercedes S212 either. Bought it online, flew in, Uber’d to the dealership and drove it home. Where is your Autopian sense of adventure?
I’ve purchased most of the cars in my fleet without a test drive. I usually fly out, exchange the cash, and off I go. My usual line of questioning is “will it make it back to Illinois?” If the seller seems confident, I’ll usually take the dice roll.
Then again…I have purchased some real stinkers. 🙂
The hilarious part is the ONE CAR that I “did all the things” to buy, bought from a specialist dealer not a rando, paid to have a PPI done, etc., my ’87 924S, was the one that ended up being an epic turd of a car. Looked great, low miles, PPI was good, but absolutely everything broke once I got it home.
The rest of my “fly and drives” were fine, with the minor exception that one of my 318is’s threw the A/C belt and had to be towed off the Joisey Turnpike. Fixed it in an Autozone parking lot and went merrily on my way, and it never gave me much trouble. As a rule I don’t buy junk though. Learned that lesson largely before eBay existed.
Probably better than putting any money down on a hypothetical Tesla Roadster that wont ever happen.
A 20,000,000 car is the antithesis of Autopian. I actually don’t give a flying fuck about this car or the article. Click bait is what 20,000,000 is all about and that is beneath Autopian raisin d’etre
Howdy! This didn’t read like clickbait to me, so I’m curious how it read that way to you? The main point of this article is: We live in a strange world where someone will pay $20 million for a car no one has driven.
Also, as a longtime Autopian writer, I don’t think that the cost of the car necessarily precludes it from being Autopian or non-Autopian. I think a key thing around here is that if someone loves a car, the price isn’t really so important. It has to work in both directions, right?
Perhaps, however given the reality of our ‘times’ the thought of someone paying $20,000,000 for a car seems untoward. We all love a fantasy car, Countach posters, Ferrari posters or dreaming of the ultimate toy one would like, it is a part of the lifestyle. The bait is what car is 20 million?, and it is bait because it is stupendously obscene and ridiculous. I guess I would rather have an article about someone turning a 914 into a 914/6 using available resources that normal human beings can comprehend. And, yes I thought that was the Autopian (utopian?) ideal. That and taillights and trains and RV’s and busses and all the amazing and fun articles we get to encounter and comment on.
Next year: “YouTube influencer finally takes delivery of $20M car and promptly crashes it.”
Someone who spends $20M on a car is not an influencer in my world.
Its not a car it’s a investment possibility a tax dodge someone will maybe look at. Basically a statue.
Well, if it turns out to be no good, my usual response would probably be that it sucks to be you, except that if he can afford to drop $20 million on a car, it almost certainly doesn’t
We all know the buyer is simply going to put this in their temperature controlled underground garage – right next to the F40’s and F50’s – and simply look at it a couple times a year. Gordon could completely forget the motor and they’d never know…
Can’t unsee the USB-C ports in the front grille in the final pic now ????
I had to zoom in, and yes, can’t unsee it now.
I thought this would be an ICE car, maybe it has a hybrid system (or two)?
Must be a direct battery pack-on-motor setup for each front wheel, like the Corvette E-Ray/ZR1X independent hybrid front axle, but split with one for each side to facilitate torque vectoring. They can be charged up via USB-C, but with separate battery packs you’ve gotta invest in two chargers. Hopefully the buyer has enough spare funds after dropping $20m on it to afford both, imagine the embarrassment of forgetting to switch it from one side to the other and ending up with a 3WD hypercar!
And, of course, they wouldn’t include the charger in the box. Next I bet they’ll remove the headphone jack!
This seems a bit contrived to just get an article out, TBH. I get that trying to say some words about this 1 of 1 car selling for $20million isn’t easy, but any car enthusiast (or even anyone who’s aware of extraordinarily rich people and their decisions) knows this whole situation is nothing like one of us buying a shitbox Miata off of FB marketplace for $1500.
You even kind of give up the game in the article by saying you understand someone buying a McLaren F1 for $20million. This is essentially the vastly improved version of that very car, done by the same guy who originally designed it and taking advantage of 30 years of engineering advancements.
Then on top of that it’s the first of only 5 of these to ever be made, you get to have all this interaction with the team developing and building it, and you get a say in how it’s completed? Even setting aside the purchase purely as an investment, this seems like one of the least crazy 8 figure car purchases that have happened over the years, especially if you’re looking at it from the lens of wanting it to be a good driving car.
I would have preferred some reporting on the actual car, as well as what was included in the purchase. Instead I had to go to google to get some details.
I am curious now, too, as the source I found says this is “Chassis #1”, which doesn’t sound like the “last production slot.” Anyway, for some more interesting details see here:
https://www.autoblog.com/news/gordon-murray-s1-lm-sold-at-auction-las-vegas
They did do an article on this car during Car Week. Some rich guy commissioned GMA to build 5 of these but only ended up wanting 4, hence why this slot was available.
Yeah, I remember that article. In fact, it’s a bit weird there wasn’t a callback to that article other than just the hyperlink, because it explained pretty clearly why it might be worth $20mil. And it still doesn’t get into the stuff about getting development drives, having face-to-face with Gordon Murray, getting a 500 page book showing the build process, etc. That stuff is fairly interesting and I’d like to have seen it here.
To that buyer, it’s just an investment. It doesn’t matter how the car drives, because it never will be.
If I’m going to be present through every level of my new car’s development, and if that car is being built specifically for me, to my standards, then I think a test drive is irrelevant.
I ordered a custom guitar this year from a boutique company. I’d never played one of their instruments because they’re rare, only available new via custom orders, and whenever secondhand ones would pop up locally they’d be sold within a couple of hours. I poured over the build sheet for several days before submitting it, whenever they’d reach a new phase in the construction they’d confirm everything was as I wanted with me, and as long as I requested them in a timely manner they’d make tweaks along the way.
It was absolutely flawless out of the box and is probably the best guitar I’ve ever played/definitely the best I’ve ever owned. I’d recommend the company without hesitation and if I had more disposable income I’d order another one. I figure this is pretty much the same deal but on the .01%er scale rather than the upper middle class one. That guitar cost me a paycheck and a half. Hell I’ll bet this is significantly cheaper for whatever ghoul is having it built.
Yup, that pretty much sums it up. If this were some private equity firm no one had heard of and they were building their first ever car then sure, the purchase price is ridiculous. But still not because no one has done drive reviews of the thing.
This is not that, though. This is the “pull out all the stops” effort of an absolute legend in the automotive space. There’s practically no chance this won’t be a phenomenal car to drive. The real travesty is that it likely never will be driven. Somewhat similar to the ghouls who buy super high-end boutique guitars and don’t even know how to play.
I’m not sure if you’re a part of the guitar community, but we call those guys Blues Lawyers or Blues Dentists lol. They’ve got like 5 or even 6 figures worth of guitars and can’t do anything but basic pentatonic wanking. There’s a whole market for that shit now too. Every Guitar Center or high end shop has 5 or more $5,000+ guitars now and the vast majority of them are brand new hand made instruments that are designed to look, sound, and feel like they’re from the 50s or 60s.
Many of them are even “relic” models…which means they literally make a boutique guitar and beat the snot out of it to make it look and feel old. How stupid is that? You’re paying more for a guitar they’ve “artistically” damaged. Just the biggest poser shit in the entire world…
Hell my favorite DC area store has THIRTEEN guitars listed that are $10,000+ and 112 that are $5,000+. I’m a comfortably above average player who’s financially secure enough to play around in that price range, but why would I? I don’t play professionally. Spending that much money for something that’s just gonna hang in my basement is cringe.
I feel similarly about people with dozens of cars they never drive. It’s a waste and hoarding nice things because you can prevents other people from being able to enjoy them. Instruments are meant to be played and cars are meant to be driven.
I barely barely play, but that’s also why I haven’t even pulled the trigger on a reasonable electric instead of the beat to hell old strat knockoff I have. I just know that the ~$750-1000 for the guitars I’m interested in will go further in my other hobbies at the moment.
Occasionally I think having rich people who can afford such luxuries is good because that makes being in business making those things sustainable, but then I remind myself I’m not a boootlicking dumbass.
Agreed on all counts, although another advantage is the bubble pops sooner or later and some of the ridiculous shit becomes attainable. If you want to drop $750-$1,000 on a decent electric wait a couple more months because the current “line go UP” crony capitalist guitar market that’s not dissimilar to the car market has already reached carrying capacity.
As everyone except corporate ghouls knows, there is in fact a limit to how far you can go with price gouging. The boutique market is now oversaturated and the stuff I mentioned is actually now getting discounted. Those $7,000 customs are suddenly $5,000. I’m seeing $4,000 guitars listed for $3,000 on holiday clearance and we haven’t even hit Black Friday yet.
I bought a new custom shop Dean Cadillac for $2400 last month. They go for $5,000 at MSRP/if you order directly from Dean and will sometimes be discounted into the mid 3s. A local-ish Guitar Center had had it sitting on their overcrowded platinum wall for 4 years that they couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.
Hell even $2-2500 stuff is getting aggressively discounted. You may not see those ripples downstream yet, but you absolutely will in 2026, and if you’re willing to buy secondhand there will be some very nice stuff in your price range. Or if you want to take the leap on something really nice they’ve got more high end stuff sitting around than ever and will absolutely wheel and deal.
What are your thoughts on the PRS SE Custom 24? That was where I had somewhat landed a couple years back when I was heavily considering buying, but unfortunately didn’t and know they’ve gone up from 500 to 750. It still seems like a good value, but it’s been a while since I thought seriously about buying.
When talking affordable guitars (or honestly guitars in general) my biggest concern is always QC. PRS is the best in the business when it comes to QC and it’s not particularly close. I don’t personally own a PRS currently but I have owned several and they were all great guitars. I frequently recommend them.
I’m personally into weirder stuff for my personal collection at this point, but if I was a touring musician who suddenly needed a guitar I would go directly to Guitar Center and get a PRS. They’re that consistent.
I’ve often speculated that I could tell the difference between my $350 bass and one that cost ten times as much, but couldn’t tell between a $3500 bass and one that cost ten grand more. But I’ve never had the chance to try.
You were careful not to plug the company that made your ax but you also said you’d recommend it without hesitation. Who are they?
The law of diminishing returns is real when it comes to guitars and basses. I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to play a fair amount of really high end stuff. Core line PRS-es, Gibson customs, 60s Fenders, assorted sought after Martins, etc. Most of it is not worth it, point blank.
I think sub 500 to the low 1000s is a sizable quality leap and the low 1000s up to 3000 or so is as well, but after that it’s all gravy. I wouldn’t pay more than $3,000 for an instrument unless it’s custom made for me or has some sort of incredible and verifiable story. Once I’m in the price range of full custom builds I’m doing that every single time because you don’t have to make any compromises.
Which is how I wound up with my *drumroll please* Aristides. I was going to buy myself a full core PRS for my 35th birthday but once I realized how much I’d be spending I said “fuck it I’d rather just go the custom route at this point”. No regrets whatsoever and I’ll have my 060 for the rest of my life because it’s basically my own signature guitar…whereas I’ve had Paul Reed Smiths before and while they’re incredibly well made I always get bored of them sooner or later.
I didn’t mention the company initially because I don’t care for flexing and a lot of the times when I mention that I bought an Aristides I get a lot of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing.
Never heard of them, I’ll check it out. I’ve never taken the plunge on something fancy because I’ve never felt like I “needed” to, but as you say, I’m old and stable and worth it so maybe I should. But at this point, my guitar player and I have been through so many drummers that we’ve jokingly said we’d quit if we have to find another, so maybe I can’t justify investing…Ah, who knows. Thanks for the referral!
Of course! I had a 10/10 experience with them and based on what I’ve read that’s the norm. They do in fact make basses as well.
I have been looking to set a decent 2 channel stereo system and the first place I went to check out equipment I immediately pegged as out of my price range as soon as we walked into the listening room (McIntosh was their entry level stuff), and told the sales guy as much. He insisted that I at least listen to a few different set ups, and I had some time to kill, so why not. Long story short he demoed a $10,000+ set up (Mac integrated amp with a pair of modest tower speakers) and a $100,000+ set-up (Mac tube pre-amp and two Mac mono blocks driving a pair of $75,000 Sonus Faber Reference speakers). The second set did actually sound vastly superior to the first, maybe even 10x better, but honestly it all seems 10x overpriced to me.
Yeah I suppose if you A/Bd it, maybe most people could tell, but on its own, I just can’t imagine electing to buy the “better” one at that price. But, then again, people who have that kind of money don’t think that way because “they’re worth it,” I suppose.
Frankly, I’m happier WITH the dollar.
This is the equivalent of one of us buying a shirt without trying it on and realizing it doesn’t fit to one of these freaks. It’s nothing.
Beat me to the analogy, although I was going to go with a phone charging cable. If it doesn’t work, it’s so cheap that you probably aren’t even going to bother with returning it.
If it doesn’t jazz the new owner, it’ll be on BaT in no time. And probably bring even more.
Of course, that’s assuming New Owner even drives it, and doesn’t just stash it in his collection of overpriced, under-driven garage queens.
https://i.imgflip.com/slyt3.jpg
$20 million to this buyer is much less than $1500 to you.
Exactly this – while 20 million for a car is hard to comprehend, it’s all relative. I’m sure it will be glorious – lets just hope the owner is an actual enthusiast who likes to push the limits on track days and not someone looking for a bubble wrapped garage queen.
Someone occasionally takes a McLaren Senna out at the track I go to. While I’m positive they should be paying much higher taxes I’m at least happy that the car actually gets driven as god intended.
For some reason it seems like Sennas get used the most for their intended purpose out of all the hypercars. I think they’re just so purposefully ugly that it attracts more enthusiasts than posers.
They are absolutely hideous cars, even by modern McLaren’s dubious standards
Agreed. This. I have met a few folks who would be interested in something like this, and while $20M isn’t necessarily a rounding error for them, it is far from leaving them in financial ruin. They look at it as an investment, like art, but with a different, more honest type of snobbery than normal art collecting (as one of them put it to me while showing me his probably $1M+ Singer 911 at a car show).