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A Far Cry from Floor Mats : The McLaren Giveaways.

Perhaps you are familiar with various automobile dealer incentives. Sellers are known to offer the occasional freebie or perk if you purchase a car. These incentives can be as small as a free upgrade to carpeted floor mats, or may take the more significant direction of cash back bonuses or reduced interest rate financing. Whatever form the incentives take, they are increasingly common with an automobile purchase.

Can you imagine, though, an incentive package that included gold-plated titanium tool kits and custom-built high-roller watches featuring an engraving of your new cars chassis number? Would you find it hard to believe that at least one automotive producer threw in those freebies with every purchase—along with a seat custom-molded from high-tech carbon fibers to fit the body of the driver?

It happened. It didn’t happen a lot, but those perks were offered to buyers of a particular car throughout the 90s. In all, only about one hundred lucky buyers were treated to this royal treatment, and fewer than seventy of the cars sold with these “little” benefits actually ever hit the street.

The car in question was the McLaren F1, still recognized today as the fastest production automobile ever sold. Each of the McLarens came with an amazing V12 engine, an elegant design featuring a body made from special carbon fibers, and unparalleled speed and acceleration. Buying a McLaren also netted the purchaser a custom-built set of gold-plated titanium hand tools and a Tag Heuer watch emblazoned with the unique chassis number of the car purchased. Oh, and they threw in the custom-molded seat, too.

McLaren, Inc produced the McLaren F1 from approximately 1994 through 1999. The car was designed for unrivaled performance and is still recognized today as a true exemplar of sports car design. F1s have been consistently clocked at speeds in excess of two hundred and thirty miles per hour and are known for their breakneck acceleration that makes many of the world’s famous sports cars seem like clunkers in relative terms.

Today many of us may marvel at the seeming generosity of employee pricing or a free CD player. We may be grateful for the rear window defroster and standard air conditioning. The idea of gold-plated tools and watches worth more than most new cars seems absolutely impossible. But the McLaren was no ordinary automobile and its customer base did not consist of neighborhood guys looking for a quick ride. The McLaren was sold to a discriminating crowd of sports car enthusiasts who were not concerned with expense.

McLaren could afford to toss in a few high-end freebies. After all, the asking price for one of the F1 speedsters was a cool million dollars. That’s right, the McLaren F1, the fastest car ever, was sold factory-direct for a million bucks per unit.

Only around one hundred McLarens were sold and only sixty-seven of those produced were built in a manner considered street legal. They were snatched up from sports car enthusiasts who find themselves at home among the world’s most rich and famous. These were cars designed for people who would be somewhat appreciative of the Tag Heuer and the gold-plated tools, but who would not be truly impressed with the giveaways.

The next time an automobile salesperson tries to entice you to buy by offering free window tinting or free oil changes for the life of the car, make a counter offer. Tell him if he can match the free gifts offered by McLaren for F1 buyers you’ll sign on the dotted line immediately.

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