The McLaren F1 is a supercar engineered and produced by McLaren Cars, a subsidiary of the British McLaren Group that, among others, owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. The car features a 6.1-litre 60° V12 BMW V12 engine and it was conceived as an exercise in creating what its designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car. Only 100 cars were manufactured, 64 of those were street versions, 5 were LMs, 3 were GTs and the rest were GTR models. Production began in 1994 and ended in 1998.

The McLaren F1 was the fastest production car ever built (having achieved a top speed of 240.14 mph, 386.5 km/h) until surpassed in 2005 by the Koenigsegg CCR, and then the Bugatti Veyron in 2006.

The car remains as one of the most popular modern supercars, and is quickly securing a spot among the most famous cars ever made.

Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fiber, titanium, gold and magnesium. The F1 was the first production car to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis.

The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from that fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988, Murray drew a sketch of a three seater super and proposed it to Ron Dennis. Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes. Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".

The car was first unveiled at a launch show on May 1992, the original prototype (XP1) remained the same as the production version except the wing mirror which was mounted at the top sill of the door which was deemed not road legal as there were no indicators at the front, McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors). The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which car manufacturers as well as an aftermarket company would adopt several years later. The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times. The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched.