^ hey i cant blame you..i would not take lightly to being banded either

 

But what would be the point of someone trying to lie about this.....especially with such a limited vehicle!!!???

 

peleton, i have heard there were a few spare chassis that were built for the racing companies as spares. i don't know exactly how many. but would it possible that few where rebuilt?

perfectly good for people who wouldn't want to register them. and just keep them as a bit of a trophy no?

 

I feel like this is one of the more severe misunderstandings between two people that I have ever seen, regardless of the validity of his statements.

It's actually more plausible than you may think. Why, just the yesterday I mentioned to a dear friend of mine that I would be interested in buying his Lamborghini Reventon for 3 million pesos. I would get some pictures and info for you guys but it's currently sitting in a Cayman bank collecting an eighth inch of interest.
Unfortunately, he says there is no price high enough as he is planning on passing it down to his German Shepherd.

____

Question for you though Peleton. What are the chances, however small, that there does exist an F1 you aren't aware of?
Note, I don't ask this while doubting you; I ask because of your unquestionable credibility.

 

You've never seen someone spin a tall tale on the internet to get attention? How lucky you are.

I have been at this a dozen years and have seen some winners. There was a user on PistonHeads.com who led people along with a story for more than a year involving the claim of ownership of a McLaren F1. He created screennames for his wife and son to join the discussion and spun a weave of lies like you could never imagine culminating in his death from cancer which was felt by many on the forums who thought they knew him. The condolences thread had over 1,000 posts before the story was finally debunked and everyone realized they had been lied to. I am not kidding.

People with only a casual understanding of these cars have a tendency to twist words and in the process get things wrong or lead others to the wrong conclusion. This seems like another case of that as there are definitely no extra F1 chassis floating around and really never have been.

There were a couple of GTRs built as spares - they were 18R for the Bigazzi/BMW Motorsports team in 1996 and #28R for the Gulf Davidoff team in 1997. Both were always well accounted for and were eventually put into service in period and developed race records of their own. There was never a scenario where a team had two or three extra chassis laying around which they could build up for different events like you see in other forms of racing, and then later on a complete car was made from one. The factory built them all and while one or two were delivered without an engine, they were always complete cars otherwise and chassis numbers are clearly documented from beginning until now. There were some small questions in GTR histories - like which GTR really replaced #14R for the final race in the JGTC in 1996 - but that one has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction and I'd say all the other questions have as well now.

There was another GTR that was racing in Japan that was for a long time rumored to have been built from spares. What was eventually uncovered was that it was GTR #25R which had been badly burned in a fire at Le Mans in 1997 and was later rebuilt using spares from other GTRs. One thing that didn't help was GTR #19R was also racing in Japan at the time and in the JGTC race logs both cars were listed with that same chassis number.

McLaren also built one spare chassis at the end of the F1 production, but they held onto this and later used it in the repair of an F1 written off in a fire. They have all the tools and understanding to produce more if necessary but only use that ability to repair a damaged car. There's nothing in it for them to build extra F1s and upset the market with a car that has seen its value grow to a multiple of 5 or 6 from new in such a short period of time - like no other car produced in the last 30+ years. McLaren make a decent profit supporting the existing cars with service work, rebuilds to suit a new owner's taste, and the brokering of sales as they get involved in a large percentage of the transactions that occur today.

Slight possibility I guess, but he had every chance to turn the discussion in his favor and make me look foolish.

I don't buy his - 'I'm taking my ball and going home' - exit story any more than I buy the original tale he spun about having a shot at an F1. It's neat to wax nostalgic and think there's an F1 out there that fits his description, like that car you always see parked in someone's driveway that never moves and you wish you could buy, but it's just not possible with an F1.

There's not an F1 owner in the world right now who doesn't know what their car is worth after all the happenings of the past few years. None of them in North America are unaccounted for, unless the transaction was recent which would disqualify his story anyway. Not one is sitting around being neglected (anymore) and so you aren't going to get one over on the owner and snag it for a bargain regardless.

I get far more inquires about F1s being available then I ever have people telling me that ones that are for sale and in need of a new owner. Sales happen fast these days and prices are charting upwards again. Another twist to his story which reduced its credibility from the get go is that the people who buy these cars are not naive about them, or if they are, they employ someone to do the bidding for them. They don't wander onto the internet and ask random strangers on a message forum to help them guess at an offering price.

There's only one F1 chassis out of the 106 built which we have never been able to locate in all the years I have been looking but I am sure (with 99.9% certainty) it is not here in the USA under the conditions he suggests.

>8^)
ER

 

Sweet Jesus. You never fail to impress.

Must spread rep.

 

Im ( sorry Peloton ) not even that keen on the F1 but if there are any ( dusty or clean ) ones lying around for 3USD please put me in touch with the owner and Ill buy immediately .

I wont be holding my breath however ...

 

Peloton,

Sorry to go off thread, I wanted to ask if you know how many we have here in the UAE,

I recall seeing a Silver/Grey one on Dubai plates a few years back, and a Red one on Abu Dhabi plates a couple of months ago. They could be the same one and possibly changed hands, or there could be 2, I have no idea.

Thanks for the wealth of information

+Rep

 

Peloton,

Out of curiosity, how have you gathered the wealth of info? Surely all of it isn't things you have read online and your insight into each chassis is extremely impressive unless you have access to internal documentation.

 

He just knows