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Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 test car is up for auction

For serious collectors with deep bank accounts
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21
PHOTO: TopGear.com

Most would commemorate Lewis Hamilton’s recent British GP win—his 104th in Formula 1—with an extra pint or a thought-out Instagram post. But what if you had a few hundred million burning a hole in your pocket? Well, purchasing his first-ever test car at McLaren, the MP4-21, wouldn’t be half-bad.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21

That very same Adrian Newey-designed car is up for sale now via RM Sotheby’s with a pre-auction guide price of between £2.2 (P166 million) and £2.7 million (P204 million). In exchange, you get a pretty sizable slice of motorsport history, a mildly cool livery and a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter V8 that produces 760hp at a redline of 19,000. Hopefully, a pair of ear muffs are thrown in.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21

That screaming power is then controlled through a seven-speed sequential transmission and sent to a set of totally road-legal Michelin tires. Oh, the entire unit tips the scale at just 605kg too, so it’s a *fairly* solid option for a private track day hoon for the winning bidder.

Some further backstory on chassis number ‘21A-03’: It was driven by Pablo Montoya for the first three races of the 2006 season, finishing fifth and fourth before curtains were drawn on the third race of the season. Suppose you could say it’s… barely been run in, then?

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21

Anyway, it’s not often that a Formula 1 car comes up for auction—let alone one with as much significance as this one. So perhaps the large amound it’d take to win the auction *might* be justifiable.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21

NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.

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PHOTO: TopGear.com
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