Lewis Hamilton Helped Develop This McLaren. Now, You Can Own His Personal Example

Next month, you’ll be able to bid on a pair of McLaren MP4-12C supercars that carry a bit of automotive history. One, a Valvano Red coupe, was owned by Lewis Hamilton, while Jensen Button owned the other. They were originally gifts for helping to develop the car when McLaren returned to building road-going vehicles, while the two world champions were part of the McLaren F1 team.

Hamilton’s car, a left-hand-drive example he registered on March 1, 2012, has just 4,971 miles on the odometer. Behind the passenger compartment is a 592-horsepower twin-turbocharged V-8 engine. Hamilton spec’d the car in England, opting for the Harissa red leather and black Alcantara cabin.

Hamilton also got a few carbon-fiber upgrades, like the mirror caps, front splitter, and rear diffuser. The car wears five-spoke Satin Dark Gray wheels, and windows tinted after he took delivery. It has an estimated value of €175,000-€225,000 ($198,849-$225,663 at today’s exchange rate).

Button’s car, his second from the company at the time, is Elite Pearl White with a Harissa red and black leather interior. It’s a right-hand-drive model, with carbon fiber interior trim and steering wheel accents. It has an estimated value of €125,000- €150,000 ($142,120-$170,542), and is being offered without reserve. The McLaren has been in a private collection since 2012, and has been driven 7,456 miles.

During the MP4-12C’s development, Hamilton asked McLaren to slim down the car’s steering wheel and asked for adjustments to the paddle shifters. The result were thin but highly tactile touch points still prevalant on today’s McLarens.

Broad Arrow will auction off the two cars at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on May 24-25. You can check out the full listings at the links below.