Someone Once Stole The Shift Knob From BMW's $20M McLaren F1 GTR

The Breakdown

• BMW maintains the car as part of its USA Classics Collection.
• Every 10 years, the McLaren F1 GTR requires a major service.
• Some knob stole the shift knob several years ago.

The McLaren F1 remains high atop the list of the all-time greatest automobiles. It's a supercar benchmark that designers and engineers still strive to emulate to this day. 

McLaren also used the F1 in racing throughout the 1990s, and it had quite a successful career. One such example is chassis 17R, which managed an 8th-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That car is now owned by BMW as part of its USA Classics Collection.

But its minders now keep a tighter eye on who gets to sit inside the car, as someone once made off with its shift knob. Speaking to BimmerLife, Head of BMW Group Classic USA, Tom Plucinsky confirmed that "the shift knob was stolen at a show several years ago." 

Why does BMW own the car? The McLaren F1 is powered by the BMW-built S70 V12 engine. BMW Motorsport also ran a few examples in international competition, including the aforementioned chassis 17R.

Today, that car is used for static display at events such as the Amelia Island Concours or Pebble Beach. Occasionally, however, it's also fired up and run hard on various race tracks. As it should be, really, as no car like this should sit quietly for the remainder of its years.

In that same interview, Plucinsky notes that maintaining a vehicle like this takes lots of work and money. The F1 GTR requires a major service every 10 years or so. This includes removing and inspecting the engine, rebuilding the gearbox, and going over... everything.

Replacing the F1's shift knob cost BMW around $900 a decade ago. That's no small sum, but it's much cheaper than a brake job, which costs around $50,000.

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Motor1's Take: While it would be hilarious to find that someone did indeed snatch the shift knob and install it on a busted-up old BMW, it's pretty lame to know someone stole a part of this car's history. It's a museum piece that the world still gets to see and occasionally hear. We should rejoice in the fact that it's not locked away in a vault somewhere.

The doors, however, are likely locked to keep prying hands away from any other interior goods.

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