The Official McLaren F1 Thread
#27
09-17-2008, 08:03 PM
There were only 6 Le Mans edition F1s produced. Only the Sultan of Brunei has more than one. He has three. Two LM editions and a one-off LM GTR - priceless.
Last edited by Barrister; 09-17-2008 at 08:24 PM.
#28
09-17-2008, 08:15 PM
Here is an article I wrote for an upcoming page I am creating on my website ranking the best modern supercars. No suspense here, F1 is #1:
1. McLaren F1*
Produced: 1994-1998 (100 total produced)
Cost: $970,000 USD
Engine: 6.2 liter V12 620 bhp
Weight: 2513 lbs
0-60: 3.2 seconds
Top Speed: 240 mph
The greatest supercar of all time is the McLaren F1. In fact, it is not even close. Even in a world where $1 million supercars are becoming somewhat commonplace, the F1 is still the fastest, most brutal and rarest production car ever made. The only question that remains is whether or not anyone, anywhere at anytime will make a car that will surpass it.
It may seem a bit ostentatious to name a street car after the finest engineered race cars in the world. The McLaren F1, however, was cut from the fabric of Formula 1 racing and more than lives up to its name. In 1988 McLaren Cars Ltd. enjoyed one of the greatest Formula 1 seasons in history - winning all but one of the 16 races that year. After this incredible accomplishment, McLaren decided that it was time to take what they had learned on the track and build the world's finest road car. With almost unlimited resources at their disposal, McLaren set out to build an absolutely no-compromise automobile with maximum power while maintaining ultimate drivability. To reach these goals, McLaren technical director Gordan Murray and designer Peter Stevens envisioned a large capacity chassis with a naturally aspirated V12 engine. Murray believed that while super and turbocharging increase power, they also add to engine complexity and, as a result, can have an adverse effect on reliability. Murray also wanted to avoid the latency and loss of feedback that can be caused by forced air induction. Murray's goal was to give the road car driver the same type of ultimate control over engine performance that those who piloted his Formula 1 masterpieces had.
After 4 years of incredibly costly research and development, the F1 was revealed at Monaco in conjunction with Formula 1 race week in 1992. It made an immediate impression when a pre-production model reached 0-100-0 mph in just 11.4 seconds. Despite its nearly $1 million price tag, when the customer base learned that only 100 examples would be produced with only 64 of those being of the standard type, a true buying frenzy ensued.
To reach his performance goals, Murray drew heavily on his Formula 1 acumen. His elite team designed over 5000 individual parts - all made of high tech and ultra light weight carbon fibre, titanium and magnesium. Sporting the world’s first all carbon fibre single-shell (“monocoque”) design, the F1 utilized the incredible BMW S70/2 engine developing 620 bhp. Weighing in at a mere 2513 pounds, the F1 has one of the greatest power to weight ratios ever. The largest problem that Murray encountered in developing the F1 was excess heat produced from the 6064 cc (6.1 liter) engine. To combat this, the engine compartment was lined with 23 grams of pure gold. All of this extreme ingenuity definitely paid off. When flexing its muscles, the F1 will reach 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds and has a top speed of 240 mph. This makes the F1 the fastest naturally aspirated car in the world. Its top speed is only surpassed by the Koenigsegg CCX at 241.1 mph, the Bugatti Veyron at 253.2 mph and the SSC Ultimate Aero at 257.44 mph - all of which use forced induction to reach their top speeds.
Despite its technical tour de force, the F1’s most striking design element may be its seating arrangement. In keeping with its F1 bloodlines, Murray designed a cockpit that seats the driver in the center with two passenger seats on either side. Murray believed that this gave the driver the best view of the road and unrestricted access to the steering wheel as well as the myriad of driving components. Nevertheless, while the F1 interior sports more buttons and switches than most passenger jets, it does not employ a single driving aid. That means no traction control, ABS, power brakes or power steering.
Supporting the fact that the F1 is ultimately a road car meant for daily driving if desired, it came with a bevy of posh extras. This included a lightweight stereo system, a custom golf bag, fitted luggage set, and a tool box with everything a McLaren mechanic would need to accomplish the most technical repair no matter where the car was to be found. Most interestingly, the F1 included a data transfer system that would transmit car data to McLaren through an internal modem. Legends abound from McLaren about customers whose data revealed daily trips above 200 mph.
McLaren built only 64 examples of the standard F1 road car. But beyond this, it also produced five LM ("Le Mans") racing editions, three GT versions and 28 GTR road cars. This along with the 7 prototype versions accounts for all 100 examples ever made. McLaren reports that 21 of those cars were sold to customers in the United States. The single largest owner of the F1 in the world is the Sultan of Brunei who has two black F1 LM editions and an exact replica of the F1 GTR that was the victor at Le Mans. Despite not having produced the car for over a decade, McLaren still services many of the original examples. F1 owners routinely send the car back to McLaren for fine tuning or other custom modifications.
If I could have only one supercar, this would be it. In fact, if it were in my garage, I highly suspect that I would not pine for another. After the F1, everything else would be downhill.
Dana Larkin
downforce.smugmug.com/cars
*Much of my research was done on supercars.net and the official McLaren website.
Produced: 1994-1998 (100 total produced)
Cost: $970,000 USD
Engine: 6.2 liter V12 620 bhp
Weight: 2513 lbs
0-60: 3.2 seconds
Top Speed: 240 mph
The greatest supercar of all time is the McLaren F1. In fact, it is not even close. Even in a world where $1 million supercars are becoming somewhat commonplace, the F1 is still the fastest, most brutal and rarest production car ever made. The only question that remains is whether or not anyone, anywhere at anytime will make a car that will surpass it.
It may seem a bit ostentatious to name a street car after the finest engineered race cars in the world. The McLaren F1, however, was cut from the fabric of Formula 1 racing and more than lives up to its name. In 1988 McLaren Cars Ltd. enjoyed one of the greatest Formula 1 seasons in history - winning all but one of the 16 races that year. After this incredible accomplishment, McLaren decided that it was time to take what they had learned on the track and build the world's finest road car. With almost unlimited resources at their disposal, McLaren set out to build an absolutely no-compromise automobile with maximum power while maintaining ultimate drivability. To reach these goals, McLaren technical director Gordan Murray and designer Peter Stevens envisioned a large capacity chassis with a naturally aspirated V12 engine. Murray believed that while super and turbocharging increase power, they also add to engine complexity and, as a result, can have an adverse effect on reliability. Murray also wanted to avoid the latency and loss of feedback that can be caused by forced air induction. Murray's goal was to give the road car driver the same type of ultimate control over engine performance that those who piloted his Formula 1 masterpieces had.
After 4 years of incredibly costly research and development, the F1 was revealed at Monaco in conjunction with Formula 1 race week in 1992. It made an immediate impression when a pre-production model reached 0-100-0 mph in just 11.4 seconds. Despite its nearly $1 million price tag, when the customer base learned that only 100 examples would be produced with only 64 of those being of the standard type, a true buying frenzy ensued.
To reach his performance goals, Murray drew heavily on his Formula 1 acumen. His elite team designed over 5000 individual parts - all made of high tech and ultra light weight carbon fibre, titanium and magnesium. Sporting the world’s first all carbon fibre single-shell (“monocoque”) design, the F1 utilized the incredible BMW S70/2 engine developing 620 bhp. Weighing in at a mere 2513 pounds, the F1 has one of the greatest power to weight ratios ever. The largest problem that Murray encountered in developing the F1 was excess heat produced from the 6064 cc (6.1 liter) engine. To combat this, the engine compartment was lined with 23 grams of pure gold. All of this extreme ingenuity definitely paid off. When flexing its muscles, the F1 will reach 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds and has a top speed of 240 mph. This makes the F1 the fastest naturally aspirated car in the world. Its top speed is only surpassed by the Koenigsegg CCX at 241.1 mph, the Bugatti Veyron at 253.2 mph and the SSC Ultimate Aero at 257.44 mph - all of which use forced induction to reach their top speeds.
Despite its technical tour de force, the F1’s most striking design element may be its seating arrangement. In keeping with its F1 bloodlines, Murray designed a cockpit that seats the driver in the center with two passenger seats on either side. Murray believed that this gave the driver the best view of the road and unrestricted access to the steering wheel as well as the myriad of driving components. Nevertheless, while the F1 interior sports more buttons and switches than most passenger jets, it does not employ a single driving aid. That means no traction control, ABS, power brakes or power steering.
Supporting the fact that the F1 is ultimately a road car meant for daily driving if desired, it came with a bevy of posh extras. This included a lightweight stereo system, a custom golf bag, fitted luggage set, and a tool box with everything a McLaren mechanic would need to accomplish the most technical repair no matter where the car was to be found. Most interestingly, the F1 included a data transfer system that would transmit car data to McLaren through an internal modem. Legends abound from McLaren about customers whose data revealed daily trips above 200 mph.
McLaren built only 64 examples of the standard F1 road car. But beyond this, it also produced five LM ("Le Mans") racing editions, three GT versions and 28 GTR road cars. This along with the 7 prototype versions accounts for all 100 examples ever made. McLaren reports that 21 of those cars were sold to customers in the United States. The single largest owner of the F1 in the world is the Sultan of Brunei who has two black F1 LM editions and an exact replica of the F1 GTR that was the victor at Le Mans. Despite not having produced the car for over a decade, McLaren still services many of the original examples. F1 owners routinely send the car back to McLaren for fine tuning or other custom modifications.
If I could have only one supercar, this would be it. In fact, if it were in my garage, I highly suspect that I would not pine for another. After the F1, everything else would be downhill.
Dana Larkin
downforce.smugmug.com/cars
*Much of my research was done on supercars.net and the official McLaren website.
Last edited by Barrister; 09-17-2008 at 08:33 PM.
#30
09-17-2008, 08:27 PM
It's in my signature. 
http://downforce.smugmug.com/cars
The section with the top 10 list isn't done yet though. Thanks for the interest!
http://downforce.smugmug.com/cars
The section with the top 10 list isn't done yet though. Thanks for the interest!