Friday Facts - The Story of Mr.Bean’s McLaren F1

Rowan Atkinson is a British actor, comedian and writer, popularly know for his character as Mr.Bean. The TV start has surely won the hearts of people over the years , by making us laugh out loud through his performance on the big screen.

We have seen him drive the most recognisable Green 1977 British Leyland mini 1000 on the hit show "Mr.Bean".

But in reality, the actor has/had some serious mean machine under his possession. His love for racing and master engineering had the start own some of the most popular cars in the market including Mercedes Benz SLS AMG, Aston Martin DB2, Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato, Acura NSX and not to forget the All Time Legend, The McLaren F1.

In the year 1997, Atkinson purchased a brand new #061 McLaren F1, reportedly for $830,000 (~ INR 3crores). The monster packs a 6.1L V12 engine with 627hp and could reach speeds of upto 240mph. Only 106 of these were produced, with 64 cars built as road-legal.

Being few among the privileged to having own the McLaren F1, The Englishman unfortunately faced some major road bumps during his ownership of the vehicle

• On October of 1999, Atkinson drove the supercar into the back of a Rover in Lancashire, England. The actor walked unharmed but the cars front end was extensively damaged. The team at McLaren had the car towed to there facility and the car was returned to it’s original glory looking brand new and performing just the way its suppose to.

Atkinson had the pleasure of enjoying the car again for a little over a decade before he hit the next road bump. And this time , it was a big one.

• In the year 2011, Atkinson lost control driving the McLaren F1. The actor had the car ripping in a straight stretch when suddenly the rear end of the vehicle completely lost traction. He crashed into a tree and street sign, shearing the car into two pieces. Atkinson was slightly injured with a fractured shoulder blade, but the supercar did not fare so well. With the car fully out of whack, it was almost close to being completely Totalled. It took almost two years and $2 million in repairs to get the McLaren F1 back on the street.

With 2 heart wrecking incidents under the Actors belt and crazy sum being shelled out for the repair works of the F1, the story does end at a high note.

After 41,000 miles, two crashes, and 17 years of ownership, Atkinson decided to sell his McLaren F1 supercar. The collector's dream car was sold at an auction for an astounding $12.2 million (~ INR 76crores) in June 2015, making a mear $7 million + over his initial purchase price.

When asked the reason for selling his beloved supercar? He felt it was time for someone else to enjoy the car.

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