How to make an $8 million McLaren F1 for just $37,000

With only 106 McLaren F1s ever built, one of the most sought after supercars of all time won't be landing under your Christmas tree anytime soon — unless you won the Mega Millions last night, in which case, congrats.

Gooding & Company sold a 1997 McLaren F1 for $8.47 million at Pebble Beach this past August, displaying the status the 618-hp F1 holds among billionaires. It boasts immense status amongst the regular man, too, with many declaring it their ultimate "dream" car. Dreams do come true, but seldom to the level where one could afford a F1. So what does the regular man do?

If you're Jacek Mazur from Poland, you pull up your sleeves, grab whatever parts and scraps you can find and make your own million-dollar McLaren F1, ultimately costing just $37,000. I guess Walt Disney was right.

Mazur, 48, calls himself an amateur mechanic and "Top Gear" fanatic. Over the past 20 years he's built many supercars, including a Porsche 911, Lamborghini Countach and a Ferrari Testarossa based on a Pontiac Fiero. But it's his McLaren F1 that stands as his ultimate achievement. It took eight years to finish, and while it won't reach the original's 241 mph (with the rev-limiter removed), his F1 will still hit a claimed 200 mph. The real F1 left McLaren with a 6.1-liter V-12 from BMW. Mazur has now constructed three F1 replicas, with the white one (above) featuring an Audi V-8, while another boasts the 600-hp BMW V-12. An Audi W-12 was also used during production.

However, this isn't merely an outsourced body kit fitted to a Chevy Aveo with a monster engine shoehorned into the back. Mazur welded the entire chassis by hand, building the seats himself as well as its fiberglass shell. The only outsourcing done was occasionally asking for help from 30 of his friends and family. While Mazur's interior lacks the leather and glamor of the McLaren, it still boasts the F1's iconic three front seats, with the driver perched in the middle. And it features a unique fourth seat, tucked tightly behind the driver; a seat Mazur nicknamed the "Hammond Seat" after pint-sized "Top Gear" presenter Richard Hammond.

The painstaking process of building his own supercar was documented over four years and 63 videos on Mazur's YouTube channel: “The McLaren was such a great car that when I saw it the first time I decided to build it,” Jacek says in the video. “Many people will literally stop and stare and take a proper look at it. It shows me that I made a proper car. Even if it’s just a replica, it looks like the real deal.”

Mazur also says that even if he was offered an actual McLaren F1, he wouldn't trade it for his creation (although having now created multiple F1s, I'm sure he'd at least part way with one?). He makes the valid point that he'd be petrified of getting a multi-million dollar F1 dirty. After eight long years, Mazur finally realized his dream of owning a McLaren F1 (sort of). And seeing as I didn't win the Mega Millions last night, I'll likely have to plan a trip to Poland to fulfill my dream. Perhaps Jacek Mazur would make me that Ferrari F40 I can't afford?

Photo: Top image: Barcroft TV via YouTube; collage: artiplastzabre via Facebook