Image: Adam Jacobs for Coy's Auctions

The problem with buying a historically significant race car is that your significant other doesn’t always appreciate its value as fine art. You may think that Nigel Mansell’s 1989 Ferrari F640 goes great in your family room, but I suspect your wife will want it relegated to the garage. What if you could blend the best of both worlds, and turn a one-of-a-kind race car into art that everyone (well, almost everyone) could appreciate?

That’s exactly what McLaren did with Ayton Senna’s title-winning 1991 McLaren MP4-6. Rather than leaving the car intact, McLaren disassembled the car and gave it to artist Jay Burridge, whose treatment will be familiar to anyone who’s ever assembled a plastic model kit. Yes, a lot of components are missing, such as the engine, monocoque, seat, steering wheel, instruments, wheels, tires and the rest of the bits that make a race car, but there’s still enough there to make it historically significant. Besides, it’s sculpture now, so your wife (or husband) can’t possibly complain when you mount it to the wall in the living room or dining room.

If you want to take a chance at owning the MP4-6-turned-wall-art, it will be up for bid at next weekend’s Coy’s Auction at the Nürburgring. It’s expected to go for between $50,000 and $82,000, so be sure that you’ve got the money in the bank before you start phoning in your bids. I don’t have a wall big enough for it, otherwise I’d be selling my organs on the black market to raise cash.

Source: Autoblog