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Rare Ford Mustang ASC McLaren is a piece of '80s history

You can't blame the dealer for advertising this oddball convertible as a "Ford Mustang McLaren." The name certainly rolls off the tongue better than "Ford Mustang ASC McLaren," and it makes the car sound a whole lot more appealing. However, without the 'ASC' in there, you don't get the full picture. And when it comes to the world of strange automotive collaborations—particularly those of the 80s—you most definitely want the full picture. ASC McLaren Mustangs were the result of fortuitous timing, and a project that was already underway between the American Sunroof Company and McLaren (no, not that McLaren). Detroit custom car builder Peter Muscat brought the idea of a Mustang with a tonneau cover to ASC after chopping the top off a Fox body on his own, and in turn ASC founder Heinz Pretcher brought the concept to Ford. Big blue was already in the midst of relaunching a Mustang convertible, which had been absent from the lineup for 10 years, so initially it was the Mercury Capri that got the ASC/McLaren treatment. The result was a car that was more expensive than a Mustang GT, and coupled with declining sales of the Capri overall, the car was discontinued in 1986, paving the way for the ASC McLaren Mustang you see here on eBay. With the change over to the Mustang as their platform for modification in 1987, ASC McLaren were given the opportunity to create something notable. Customizing the Capri was one thing, but the Mustang name carries with it iconic status. So what did ASC McLaren do with their chance to leave their mark on automotive history? They gave the car some visual modifications, both inside and out, but like the Capri, left the powertrain untouched. Also like the Capri, the cars still ended up costing more than $20,000. Between the high price, the economic woes of the late 80s, and disputes between Muscat and Pretcher, the ASC McLaren Mustangs were no more by 1990. During the three year run, 1,806 ASC McLaren conversions were completed, making them quite rare, especially low mileage examples like this one. The 5.0 V8s are known for being stout engines, capable of handling serious modification, and logging lots of miles, so there are no concerns there. The 5-speed Borg-Warner transmission that came in all Mustang GTs is also known for being a durable unit, the '87-'90 versions especially so. The main concern here would be the life the car has lived, and more importantly where it has lived.

McLaren looks to Asia and hybrid cars as next steps toward IPO

DETROIT — British exotic sports car maker McLaren Automotive will bank on expanded sales in Asia and a new generation of hybrid cars as it steers toward a potential public offering, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday. "We need to put more cars into Asia," McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said in a meeting with reporters in Detroit. Sales of McLaren's carbon fibre and aluminium sports cars, which start at about $200,000 in the United States, have fallen in the United Kingdom, its largest market. Flewitt said that reflects uncertainty over Brexit. Demand in the United States and in Asian markets outside of China remains strong, he said. McLaren plans to open dealerships in Vietnam and the Philippines, Flewitt said. "The next big ones are India and Russia. We're not in either and probably should be." Flewitt has said in the past that the owners of the McLaren Group, led by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, are considering an initial public offering by 2025. An IPO will likely come after all parts of the group, including McLaren Racing and a unit that markets technology, are generating cash, he said on Tuesday. Exotic sports car makers have a mixed record on public markets. Ferrari NV <RACE.MI> has been one of the auto sector's best-performing stocks, up 68% this year. However, British premium sports car maker Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings <AML.L> has suffered a 59% decline. McLaren sold about 4,800 cars in 2018, and is on track for a slightly lower number in 2019, Flewitt said. An important piece of McLaren's expansion strategy will be unveiled next spring — a hybrid car with a new architecture under the skin. However, McLaren does not plan to follow its rivals into the SUV market. "We couldn't afford to do it," Flewitt said, adding, "it just doesn't fit the brand." By 2024, McLaren will have additional production capacity coming online to increase sales to 6,000 cars a year — if the company can hit that volume without sacrificing profit margins, Flewitt said. Profitability plays a role in McLaren's decision, so far, not to develop an all-electric car, Flewitt said. Eventually, the super car niche will go electric, but for McLaren that will have to wait for lighter, lower-cost, solid-state batteries to be ready for commercial use, he said. "Nobody is out there making money with electric cars," he said. "We can do what we need to do with hybrids." Green McLaren Performance

Will this McLaren F1 sell for over $12 million at Pebble Beach?

Decades ago, a dominant Formula One team made a few dozen examples of a sports car that was as devastating on the track as it was on the road, and as such, it has become highly sought-after by collectors willing to pay millions – even tens of millions – for the privilege of ownership. We have to be talking about the Ferrari 250 GTO, right? We very well could be, but in this case, no: we're talking about the McLaren F1 – a legendary supercar whose values seem to be skyrocketing in the footsteps of its arch-rival's most iconic classic. And if this latest pre-auction estimate is anything to go by, it will only continue to climb as quickly as it accelerates. The past couple of McLaren F1s on whose sales we've reported traded hands for over $5 million apiece and we thought that was pretty spectacular, but this latest example consigned to Gooding & Company for its upcoming sale at Pebble Beach has an expected selling price of between $12 million and $14 million. Chassis No. 031, a 1995 model, is a bit of a rarity in that it's one of only a handful of McLaren F1s painted in white, and the only one in this particular shade of Marlboro White, adopting the color of the grand prix team's title sponsor at the time. It's had only three owners who've put barely over 1,000 miles on the odometer, starting in Japan, where it resided with collector Shin Okamoto for 15 years before he sold it to a collector in Chicago, who in turn sold it to its current owner who's putting it up for auction. The 27th example built, it's said to be in "highly original" condition, was extensively serviced at the McLaren factory as recently as 2008, and comes with all its original manuals, tools and fitted luggage. Is all of that enough to make this 1995 McLaren F1 worth more than twice what they've been going for? If someone pays it, we suppose it will. But the McLaren isn't even the most expensive lot consigned for the auction. Little surprise, it'll have to compete with a number of much older Ferrari models for that honor: a 250 GT SWB California Spider is estimated to fetch $13-15 million, the estimate for a similar coupe has not even been released, and a rare three-seater 1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale could go for over $20 million. 1995 McLaren F1 Estimate: $12,000,000 - $14,000,000 Chassis: VIN. SA9AB5AC7S1048031 McLaren Chassis No. 031 *Please see additional note at end of text.