Watch a young Elon Musk take delivery of his McLaren F1 hypercar — before he wrecked it (TSLA)

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June 21, 2017 2:02 PM

Before the Tesla Model S, Elon Musk's car of choice was his McLaren F1 hypercar. Watch as the young Silicon Valley tycoon takes delivery of his new toy in 1999.

McLaren F1 GTR

So in 1999, Musk decided to reward himself with a new car after selling his startup — Zip2 — for more than $300 million. And not just any car. The greatest and quite possibly one of the most expensive cars of its time.

In 2015, two of the 64 McLaren F1 road cars built from 1993-1998 have come up for sale. One of them, owned by British comedian Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") sold for a reported sum of $12.3 million. Another example, a 1998 LM spec F1, sold at auction by Sotheby's for a whopping $13.75 million.

That's some impressive appreciation even for a car that cost a not-inconsiderable-$800,000 new.

In a clip from a CNN Perspectives documentary dating back to 1999, a then-28-year-old Musk and his fiancee (now former wife) Justine take delivery of the exotic set of wheels.;

So what ever happened to Musk's McLaren? In a 2012 interview, the Tesla and SpaceX boss told PandoDaily that Musk used the exotic ride as his daily driver for several years, putting 11,000 miles on the odometer.

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