Someone Pays £8 million for Mr. Bean’s Mean Machine
The car that made a rich man even richer
Photo: Joe Cheng
Crashing a car usually decreases its value. By a lot. Especially when you crash the same car twice. However, that is not the case for good old Johnny English. British actor Rowan Atkinson has just sold his McLaren F1 for £8 million. For those who can’t tell a pound from a euro, that’s $12,418,400.
According to the Daily Mail, an anonymous British buyer with a ton of cash to burn bought the super car from the actor, despite the fact that the deep purple McLaren has been involved in two separate accidents.
Oh Mr. Bean, you’re so clumsy
Photo: Dr. Blofeld
Atkinson purchased the car for £640,000 in 1997. Two years later, Mr. Bean damaged the vehicle when it rear-ended into a Rover Metro. The second accident was much more serious. In 2011, the McLaren swerved into a tree after Atkinson lost control of the vehicle. While the actor escaped with only a broken shoulder, his vehicle wasn’t so lucky.
The super car was completely totaled. Additionally, the McLaren’s engine ended up 60 feet away. Atkinson paid £900,000 to rebuild the vehicle, and his annual insurance rose to £60,000. Together, the incident resulted in what some believe to be the highest car insurance payout in British history, causing quite a bit of financial strife for Mr. Banana Beak.
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.
Nobody knows my sorrow.
Photo: cornbugles
In spite of its problematic history, the McLaren F1 will make Atkinson a profit of £7.3 million. The car will be sold for one of the highest amounts ever paid for a vehicle in the United Kingdom, with only 1960s Ferraris selling for more.
The McLaren F1 is a highly sought after vehicle, as only 64 of these cars were ever built. It is also the world’s fasted non-turbocharged production car, capable of accelerating to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds.
Atkinson is quite the gearhead. He possesses an extensive car collection, including a Jaguar Mk7, an Aston Martin DB2 and a vintage Ford Falcon. He even holds the second quickest lap time for a celebrity on Top Gear, second only to Matt LeBlanc.
Joey Tribbiani: Good at racing. Bad at spin-offs.
Photo: Creativity97
So despite an extensive crash history, Rowan Atkinson was able to make over $11 million on the car. How you ask?
News Source: Daily Mail
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