One to Buy: Delivery Mileage 1 of 1 ex-Mansour Ojjeh 2015 McLaren 650S Le Mans
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Towards the end of 1981 season, McLaren boss Ron Dennis approached Porsche about the possibility of creating a turbocharged engine for his F1 team. With Renault and Ferrari having successfully adopted forced induction motors, the writing was on the wall for McLaren’s normally aspirated Cosworth customer motors.
Ultimately, Porsche agreed if Dennis could come up with a $5m development budget.
To raise the cash, Dennis turned to Mansour Ojjeh of Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) which had been title sponsor of the Williams F1 team since 1979.
Dennis proposed that, should Ojjeh bankroll the $5m Porsche wanted, TAG could become a co-owner of McLaren. Ojjeh agreed, acquired 60% of McLaren shares, and the TAG Turbo engine programme was born. Having come on stream in mid 1983, the TAG-branded Porsche turbo V6 delivered back-to-back Formula 1 Driver and Constructor titles in 1984 and 1985.
In the years that followed, Mansour Ojjeh went on to accumulate an astonishing collection of McLaren road cars which are now being offered through Tom Hartley Jnr. following the TAG boss’s untimely death in June 2021.
Of these, among our favourites here at Supercar Nostalgia is Ojjeh’s one-off McLaren 650S Le Mans: chassis 005598.
Chassis 005598 was the last in a 50-strong line of 650S Le Mans limited edition Coupes, most of which were finished in special Sarthe Grey paint over a Carbon Black leather interior with McLaren Orange alcantara inlays. Uniquely, this car was painted Mansour Orange and trimmed in Carbon Black leather with Volcano Orange alcantara inlays.
A commemorative plaque on the left-hand sill reads:
“THE LAST MCLAREN 650S LE MANS
BUILT IN JUNE 2015
EXCLUSIVE COMMISSION FOR
MANSOUR OJJEH”
Currently domiciled in Bahrain, chassis 005598 has covered just delivery mileage (20km). It comes complete with handbooks including the service/warranty supplement, battery charger, car cover, warning triangle, first aid kit and a dedicated history file.
