Each of the released copies of the McLaren F1 supercar — a model that still holds the title of the fastest car in the world with an atmospheric engine — is worth its weight in gold among collectors, but even among all the collected copies of McLaren F1, there are unique ones. One of these rare coupes — the only one of its kind due to unusual headlights — appeared on sale at the auction of the RM Sotheby’s auction house. A supercar from the Pinnacle Portfolio collection will be one of the lots at the August auction in Monterey, California.

The owner of McLaren F1, seven months after buying his 1998 car, ordered its revision from the specialists of the British brand. John Stadholm decided to complement his Magnesium Silver coupe with black leather and Alcantara interior with High Downforce Kit details and 18-inch wheels, which were installed on the supercar by the McLaren Special Operations division.

By the time of completion, the mileage of the car was a little more than 7.5 thousand kilometers, and now the odometer shows about 26 thousand kilometers. But it is not the excellent condition of the McLaren F1 and not the completely original equipment that makes the car outstanding, but its headlights.

The supercar with chassis No. 059 became a test mule for McLaren, on which the company tested new headlights. After the launch of F1 into production, the owners began to complain about poor road lighting, and to solve this problem, the British automaker installed new headlights on one coupe — they differ in smaller body size and internal stuffing from the head optics of the BMW Z1 roadster.

The tests were considered successful, but in the end, McLaren was able to find a solution to the problem with insufficiently effective headlights without changing their design. The supercar with chassis No. 059 eventually remained the only instance of the model with non-standard head optics, since the owner did not demand a return to the original headlights.