The McLaren F1 stole the show back in 1992, as it became the fastest production car in the world. Three decades later and it’s still the fastest production car with a normally-aspirated engine. But what started as an idea, discussed during a late flight, actually had more humble roots. Every car starts with a test mule and in the case of the McLaren F1, the test mule was a BMW E34 M5 Touring.

A while back, we talked about the only BMW 750iL Touring in the world and how it resurfaced after many years in obscurity. Now, we are sharing what we have learned about the only McLaren F1-powered BMW M5 Touring in existence. In a previous article, we talked about the existence of such BMW M5 Touring, but we now have a bit more details.

The new details come from the Collecting Cars Podcast, hosted by Top Gear presenter Chris Harris. In a more recent series, he invited David Clark – McLaren's director of road and race cars, from 1994 to 1998.

The new details come from the Collecting Cars Podcast, hosted by Top Gear presenter, Chris Harris. In a more recent series, he invited David Clark – McLaren's director of road and race cars, from 1994 to 1998. The test mule for the McLaren F1 development was a BMW E34 M5 Touring that featured the S70/2 V-12 engine, later found in the British hypercar.

Clark shared that this is the only M5 Touring in existence that features the 6.1-liter V-12 engine and has never been shown to the public. The BMW E34 M5 originally came with a 3.6-liter, normally-aspirated inline-six engine that made 311 horsepower and 265 pound-feet (360 Nm). For 1992, the M5 Touring also got the M-treatment. The engine displacement grew to 3.8 liters and now produced 340 horsepower and 295 pound-feet (400 Nm).

David Clark admitted that, while he was a big supporter of the McLaren F1 development, he wanted to do away with the BMW engine deal after the hypercar's official launch. For this reason, out of the 350 agreed, only 106 engines were delivered to McLaren.

While no performance data is available, the 6.1-liter V-12 in the BMW M5 Touring test mule, which made 618 horsepower and 477 pound-feet (647 Nm) should allow for a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) sprint in around 4.0 seconds and a top speed in the neighborhood of 200 mph (322 km/h).

Sadly, we may never know as the one-off station wagon sits hidden away in a warehouse full of other prototypes. Despite that, we believe the BMW E34 M5 Touring V-12 deserves a place alongside the 750iL Touring as one of the greatest hot BMW grocery-getters.