Notably, he once parked this million dollar car on the street for 3 weeks.

Before becoming CEO of Tesla – the world’s most valuable automobile manufacturer, Elon Musk was a software developer who successfully sold his first company Zip2 to technology giant Compaq for for more than 300 million USD in February 1999.

This deal helped Elon Musk earn 22 million USD (equivalent to 540.54 billion VND). In particular, he immediately used 1 million USD (equivalent to 24.57 billion VND) to buy his first supercar – McLaren F1. The decision of the young businessman was quite famous at that time.

Don’t hesitate to spend $1 million to buy a supercar

“19 years ago, when my first company was acquired, I had to decide between buying a house in Palo Alto or a McLaren F1 (best car ever). I bought the F1 and A small apartment is much cheaper than a car,” Elon Musk wrote on his personal page in 2018.

By early 2021, CNN news agency posted a short video showing Elon Musk excitedly receiving the car and testing it. In the video, the businessman 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in 1971 calls this a “million dollar supercar”.

He also emphasized that there are only 62 such McLarens in the world and he is the owner of one of the rare supercars.

Image of billionaire Elon Musk in 1999 receiving a call to prepare to receive the McLaren F1 supercar. Photo: CNN.

Production of the McLaren F1 began in 1992 and ended in 1998. In fact, a total of 106 cars were produced, with several design variations.

Of the 100 cars, 64 are F1 road cars, 5 are F1 LM versions built to commemorate the victory at Le Mans in 1995. 3 are F1 GT road versions of the F1 GTR tail racing car 1997. The remaining 28 were F1 GTR racing cars built for private customers competing in the FIA GT and 24 Heures du Mans series.

The supercar is equipped with a naturally aspirated V12 engine, producing 618 horsepower. The McLaren F1 can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds and remains one of the fastest production cars ever made. To this day, the McLaren F1 is still considered one of the most amazing supercars to ever exist.

“Just 3 years ago, I was showering in New York City (USA) and sleeping on the office floor. And now, obviously I have a million-dollar car and quite a few amenities,” Elon Musk shared with CNN in 1999, in a mixture of excitement and emotion.

In his first year of owning an F1 car, Elon Musk had 17,702 km on the odometer. He uses a supercar as his main means of transportation, driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco (California, USA). At one point, Elon Musk left the F1 parked on the street in Palo Alto (California) for three weeks.

McLaren F1 is called by many people the greatest supercar of the 1990s. Photo: RM Sotheby’s.

Unexpected accident

But all that good ended after the 2000 accident.

One afternoon, Elon Musk was driving with businessman Peter Thiel to meet investors to win some venture capital for his young company Paypal.

On the way, Peter Thiel turned to ask what this car could do. Elon Musk stepped on the accelerator to demonstrate the acceleration of the F1.

The owner of the F1 admitted that he “really doesn’t know how to drive” this supercar. He was unable to run using the traction control system. The enormous acceleration force caused the rear wheel to fly off the car. The remains of the F1 flew through the air into an embankment.

Fortunately, neither Elon Musk nor Peter Thiel were injured. After reporting the accident, the two businessmen hitchhiked the rest of the way to the meeting.

Elon Musk confirmed that the car had no insurance. Therefore, he paid the repair fee from his own pocket. He kept this car until 2007 and then sold it for a profit.

Elon Musk’s destroyed F1. Photo: Beijing Satellite TV.

The value of today’s supercar

Why did Elon Musk part with his favorite supercar so early?

When he founded Tesla, he considered it a brand image issue for the CEO of an electric car company to drive the pinnacle of internal combustion technology. At the same time, he desperately needed some cash to help Tesla Motors and SpaceX survive.

It is unknown who the current owner of the McLaren F1 is. But according to Supercar Blondie, the car caught fire in 2009 and was sent to McLaren’s Special Operations Team to be completely “smashed and rebuilt”. If launched on the market today, this car would be worth about 20-25 million USD (equivalent to 491-614.3 billion VND).

American automotive lifestyle company Hagerty once pointed out that a 1998 McLaren F1 can be sold for from 14.8 million USD (equivalent to 363.6 billion VND) in “Average” condition, possibly up to 22.6 million USD (equivalent to 555 billion VND). Photo: RM Sotheby’s.

Ironically, Tesla has created two electric cars – the Tesla Model S and Model X – with performance variants that can beat the McLaren’s 0-100 km/h acceleration time.

“The McLaren is a great car,” billionaire Elon Musk said in a 2013 interview with Wheels magazine. “It’s a work of art, a really beautiful piece of engineering. But I don’t want people to always write that I have a high-performance gasoline sports car, so I decided to sell.”

According to Supercar Blondie, The Drive