Australia is now without a McLaren F1 as the country’s sole example has now departed back to its homeland.

Chassis 009 has called Down Under home since new but is now in the hands of exotic car dealer Tom Hartley Junior after recently being offered for sale. With a reported price tag of AUD$37m, Wheels understands significant effort was made to find a local buyer without success.  

The car was spotted being loaded onto an Emirates flight on Monday, August 18 leading to speculation it was headed to the Middle East, but its final destination was Stansted Airport in the UK.  

Chassis 009 – one of just 64 road-going McLaren F1s and 106 in total including race cars and prototypes – has lived an eventful life, being originally delivered to Sydney to Dean Wills, then-CEO of Coca-Cola Amatil.  

It was used regularly and exercised properly at Wills’ private facility north of Sydney but also garnered headlines when it was crashed heavily by a BMW mechanic while undergoing maintenance in 1997. 

The substantial damage required a return to Woking with a reported insurance bill of $1million, during which it was painted a slightly darker grey than the original Magnesium Silver. 

In 2005 it moved to Melbourne with Tony Rafits before being sold a year later to businessman Barry Fitzgerald who has been its custodian for the past two decades. 

The F1 suffered further minor damage thanks to an off-road excursion during a New Zealand driving tour in 2016 but was once again repaired and, despite its stratospheric value, has been a frequent sight on Melbourne roads in the years since. 

Sadly, having left these shores it is very unlikely to return, depriving the Australian car scene of one of its shining lights.