Mansour Ojjeh’s Ultimate McLaren Road Car Collection for Sale
Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd, among the most respected British dealers in classic and historic sports cars, will sell Mansour Ojjeh’s extraordinary 20-car McLaren road car collection after the Ojjeh family chose the firm for the task. Fresh from moving Bernie Ecclestone’s 69 historic Formula 1 cars earlier this year, Tom Hartley Jnr now brings another singular assembly from a different F1 titan to market.
Mansour Ojjeh, who died in 2021, steered McLaren to seven Constructors’ and ten Drivers’ Championships, launched McLaren Automotive and McLaren Applied Technologies, and cemented the brand’s reputation for innovation. When McLaren Automotive began producing road cars, it built what many call the ultimate McLaren road car collection. It’s ‘jewel in the crown’—the final McLaren F1—left the factory in a one-off shade named ‘Yquem’, later rechristened ‘Mansour Orange’.
Ojjeh insisted on the last chassis number for each model and secured every engineering upgrade. Apart from the 1,810-kilometre F1 and a lightly exercised P1 GTR, every car remains unused, factory-fresh and maintained directly by McLaren—a privilege no other collector enjoys. The lineup includes the Speedtail, P1, Senna, Elva and Sabre, plus coveted Longtail and Le Mans editions; the Sabre is the final example of only sixteen.
Kathy Ojjeh said, “McLaren meant so much to Mansour. It was more than business, it was pure passion, and it was in that vein that he curated this unique collection of McLaren road cars. The ‘Last of Legends’ car collection is a treasure for our family – a reminder of the hours we witnessed Mansour designing each car to his specifications. He had an unusual talent for detail that stunned and impressed, a talent driven by the very passion he had nurtured for so many years with McLaren. Parting with this very personal collection is not easy, but it is time for it to go to its new custodian, one who truly ‘gets it’ and will cherish owning and caring for it the way Mansour did. We are very grateful to Tom Hartley Jnr for providing us with the highly professional framework within which to sell this collection, as we know Tom truly understands the collection’s intrinsic value and is also one whose passion for beautiful automobiles surpasses most.”
Tom Hartley Jnr added: “I’m truly humbled that the Ojjeh family has entrusted my business with the sale of their incredible collection. I had the privilege of meeting Mansour on a few occasions, and his attention to detail and appreciation for the finer things in life are reflected in the collection that remains today. Offering this collection for sale would be extraordinary in its own right. Still, the fact that it comes from the home of one of McLaren Automotive’s founding figures, a man so instrumental in McLaren’s Formula 1 success, makes it truly unrepeatable. Being entrusted with the sale of Mansour Ojjeh’s McLaren collection is akin to handling Enzo Ferrari’s Ferraris or Ferdinand Porsche’s Porsches. We’re talking about one of the founding figures behind McLaren Automotive, a man who, together with Ron Dennis, helped build McLaren into one of the most respected and successful teams in Formula 1 history.
For me, the highlight of the collection is, of course, the F1. It’s widely regarded as the most excellent road car ever built, and this particular example is the very last one produced. It has only just over 1,800 km from new and comes directly from Mansour Ojjeh, who, alongside Bruce McLaren and Ron Dennis, was instrumental in shaping the history of the marque. I have no doubt this will fetch a world record price for the model when it’s sold. There are so many other remarkable cars in the collection, each one unique and the final example of its model ever built. One especially poignant example is the Elva, delivered after Mansour’s passing. In an extraordinary gesture of respect, McLaren replaced the manufacturer’s badges on the front and rear with Mansour’s emblem — a tribute to one of their founders. This is the most significant McLaren road car collection ever assembled, and I sincerely hope it is acquired by a single buyer, just as the Ecclestone Grand Prix collection was, which we sold earlier this year.”
Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing, remarked: “Mansour was a founding father of McLaren as we know it today. A passionate racer and automotive enthusiast with a deep affection for McLaren. His collection is very special, I’m not aware of anything else that compares with it.”
Born in Paris to Saudi businessman Akram Ojjeh, Mansour studied in California and earned a master’s degree in business before succeeding his father as CEO of Techniques d’Avant Garde. TAG’s aviation, motorsport and luxury investments led Mansour into Formula 1 sponsorship with Williams in 1979 and into McLaren ownership in 1984. TAG financed the turbo engines that powered McLaren to multiple titles and forged one of the sport’s defining alliances.
Over four decades, Mansour guided McLaren’s racing triumphs and expanded its reach beyond the circuit. He collected cars from an early age, owning a Lamborghini Countach and a Rolls-Royce Corniche in his twenties. He then assembled a celebrated Ferrari stable that included a 250 California Spyder and a 288 GTO. During a delayed flight after the 1988 Italian Grand Prix, he, Ron Dennis and Gordon Murray agreed to build the ultimate road car. True to Mansour’s refusal to compromise, the McLaren F1 emerged and still stands as an engineering benchmark.
Today, the ‘Last of Legends’ collection embodies Mansour Ojjeh’s vision. It celebrates his relentless pursuit of excellence and his pivotal role in shaping McLaren’s past, present and future.
