7:32 am, October 19, 2026
Tom Hartley Jnr has been handed the task of selling five historic Formula 1 cars directly on behalf of McLaren Racing.
The Derbyshire-based car dealer – who is a headline speaker at Car Dealer Live 2027 on March 16, 2027 – is offering the collection individually, with the cars spanning 32 years of McLaren’s Grand Prix history.
They include machinery driven by some of the biggest names in Formula 1, including Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Lando Norris.
All five have remained in McLaren’s custody since their racing careers ended and will be prepared by the manufacturer for their new owners.
The cars being offered are two 1991 McLaren MP4/6As – chassis 04 and 07 – a 2012 MP4/27A chassis 01, a 2021 MCL35M chassis 01 painted in a special Gulf livery, and a 2023 MCL37A chassis 03.
The collection stretches from McLaren’s naturally aspirated Honda V12 era with Senna and Berger through to the V8 cars raced by Button and Hamilton and, more recently, the turbo-hybrid era with Norris.
No asking prices have been disclosed.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said the team had decided to sell the cars because it wanted to see its historic machinery being used rather than remaining in storage.
He said: ‘We have decided to part with these iconic McLaren Formula One cars because we feel that having them simply sitting in storage is a disservice to what they represent.
‘These cars were built to be driven and raced, and we want to see them being used and enjoyed. We believe that is the best way to keep our history alive and our heritage business active.’
Brown said McLaren had entrusted the sale to Tom Hartley Jnr because of the dealer’s experience in the Formula 1 collector car market.
The business previously handled the sale of the Bernie Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection, which comprised dozens of historic F1 cars amassed by the former Formula 1 supremo.
Brown added: ‘Few people understand the Formula One car market as well as Tom does, and nobody is more active within it today.
‘We were also very impressed by the way he handled the sale of the Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection, and McLaren has worked with him successfully for many years.’
Hartley said the direct connection to McLaren made the five cars particularly attractive to collectors.
‘I’m very excited to bring this opportunity to market,’ he said.
‘It is incredibly rare for a collector to have the opportunity to acquire race-driven Grand Prix cars directly from the manufacturer and team that built and campaigned them, and that makes this a very special offering.’
While the cars are being marketed individually, Hartley said he would not rule out one buyer snapping up the entire collection.
His business experienced a similar situation when it handled both the Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection and the collection of the late McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh.
Despite strong interest in individual cars, both collections were ultimately acquired in their entirety by single buyers.
‘There is of course every possibility that the same could happen here,’ Hartley said.
‘However, these five cars will be offered individually and there is no time pressure whatsoever. Our priority, and McLaren’s, is to find the right homes for them.’
Hartley believes the market for historic Formula 1 machinery still has considerable room to grow despite values rising significantly in recent years.
He added: ‘The personnel, technology, and innovation that go into creating a Formula One car far exceed anything found in a road car, and for me this is where the automotive world comes closest to the traditional art world.
‘Values have moved considerably in recent years, but I still believe this market has a long way to go.’
Tom Hartley Jnr will be one of a number of headline speakers at Car Dealer Live 2027, sponsored by Auto Trader, one of whom is former Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson.
Held at the British Motor Museum on March 16, 2027, the action-packed day will see the headline speaker interviews mixed with panel sessions with some of the most influential names in the motor trade. Panel sessions will include franchised dealers, independent dealers and car manufacturers.