Monterey 2011 - will P25 find a McLaren F1?

[F1GTRUeno]

That'd be the SSC Tuatara.

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by basman007

The Lambo without body looks pretty cool. I want one like that

That's where I was standing when I finally met Frank Stephenson.

What's this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton...57627561104692

SSC Tuatara - designed visually by Jason Castriota who was responsible for the original Ferrari P4/5, the Maserati Birdcage concept and the Bertone Mantide among other things.

What did you think of the one-77?

I quite liked it. I think Aston's today suffer from too much of the same visual design cues - you have to be an expert to spot the difference between some of their models. The One-77 is special enough to set it apart.

Apparently a few will come to the USA under 'Show or Display'.

>8^)
ER

[PatrickT82]

One-77 is awesome!!

I have bene lucky to have seen allready 6 different examples of the 77

[tak43]

Luv the photo from Pebble Beach

tak43

[basman007]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

That's where I was standing when I finally met Frank Stephenson.

Originally Posted by Peloton25

SSC Tuatara - designed visually by Jason Castriota who was responsible for the original Ferrari P4/5, the Maserati Birdcage concept and the Bertone Mantide among other things.

Oh yeah, of course.

Originally Posted by Peloton25

I quite liked it. I think Aston's today suffer from too much of the same visual design cues - you have to be an expert to spot the difference between some of their models. The One-77 is special enough to set it apart.

Apparently a few will come to the USA under 'Show or Display'.

>8^)
ER

The one-77 is one of my favorite cars, maybe even my favorite car on the current market. I like the looks and from the few vids I've seen, it sounds fantastic.
Yeah, the Aston line-up definitely shares the same dna. But I can still tell them apart quite easily, so it isn't that bad yet. Except for the Cygnet, every time I see a toyota I think it's an Aston

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by PatrickT82

One-77 is awesome!!

I have bene lucky to have seen allready 6 different examples of the 77

There's a kid on TeamSpeed.com trying to track them all down if you think you can help.

Aston Martin One-77 Index

>8^)
ER

[hurstg01]

There was a brown one at Wilton House - not the best colour but it didn't detract too much from the awesomeness of it! Sounded great too in the rev-off



listen to the one-77 from 4 minutes in, but watch the entire clip - fantastic

[Peloton25]

2011 Monterey random shots

<-- Click!!

Just 55 photos that didn't belong to any other category. Most of these are of the 7 Veyrons we found down on Cannery Row on Thursday night, but there are a few other interesting things mixed in. I'll have the set of Pebble Beach Concours photos I took Sunday ready soon too.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

<-- Click!

Not nearly as many photos as I anticipated taking and some of the early ones are marginal while I got into the rhythm of taking shots of the moving cars. I probably could have taken twice as many if I were just there on my own without any ulterior motives. Still, I only regret the lack of photos for those who couldn't be there to experience it themselves. I really, really had a wonderful time!

Hope you've enjoyed all the insights and photos from Monterey 2011. It is a really wonderful place to be in the middle of August and I'd recommend anyone with an interest attend at least once.

>8^)
ER

[PatrickT82]

nice!

[Peloton25]

A couple more stories will wind down this thread. Originally I was going to keep these to myself as it is not my intention to brag, but one person in particular encouraged me to share and he was right.

Going back to my first encounter with #036, as I mentioned the owner and I spent a while chatting about the car and F1s in general. Towards the end of my time there it was just Stephan and I and the owner. He invited us in to his home and offered us a drink and to freshen up if we needed to - again very kind. Then he said he had something he wanted to show me. Across the room on the coffee table was a hat and he brought it over to us. He explained that when he'd gotten his F1 that his wife had these hats made for him. I must admit I was impressed by that - I could only hope to be so lucky as to find a wife that not only appreciates the things I am passionate about, but also finds ways to celebrate them with me. He said that she'd had the hardest time getting the "F1/McLaren" logo for the front. At that point I reminded him that I am a pretty good source for all things "McLaren F1".

Anyway, besides the fact that this was a gift from his wife, the other thing that makes it special is that it had the chassis number of his car embroidered onto the back of the hat. Also, the color of the bill, the top button and the embroidered chassis number are all done in a medium blue - a nice tie in to the color of the car. It was a lovely hat.

And then he said something that really amazed me - he said: "I don't want to give you this one because its 'worn', but if you send me your address I'd be happy to send you one of these hats when we get home."

Now I was already thinking this he was incredibly kind and generous just for the way he'd invited me over to his home, let us see the car unencumbered (even going back inside for a while and leaving us with it) and then inviting us into his home for refreshments. The offer of this hat though - I was really honored by that. There's just no other way to say it.

So here it is - my 'special edition' McLaren F1 #036 hat:





It's something I will not wear often as I'd prefer to keep it nice, but when I do I will wear with quite a bit of admiration for the gentleman who was kind enough to share it with me. Unlike the other F1-related 'things' I've been fortunate to purchase over the years this will remain one of the more special items in my collection.

>8^)
ER

[Le Man]

Well done Erik, a very nice gift from the owner, something very special to treasure, also people, will now be able to pick you out in a crowd .

Hats off to #036,s owner, top man and wife

(no pun intended)

[cabrio92]

Very cool story and very cool stuff Erik. The owner seems to be a real gentleman and a true enthusiast.

We cannot imagine at which point Monterey was special for you and maybe one day, you will organise a F1 event hi hi.
It's my dream too

[Sami Aaltonen]

Originally Posted by PatrickT82

wow OMFG

I need to visit Concorso Italiano womewhere in the future!

Yep, If you like rare Italian supercars, and super classics; go there.
I can sure you that you will love it.!

[Peloton25]

So, speaking of amazing gifts...

Let me preface this by saying if you aren't already, you might want to be sitting down when you read this one - I certainly had to sit down at one point.

Upon returning home I've sent a number of emails to the various people I met or spent time with over those four days including several of the McLaren employees who I was so pleased to encounter. In fact I still have a few to go here with lots of life's little responsibilities that have been eating my time up since I got back.

One of those emails went to my new best friend (...and future boss? ) Paul Mackenzie of McLaren Automotive. I think I mentioned earlier that Paul leads the McLaren Automotive Special Operations group which encompasses the original McLaren Customer Care group responsible for looking after the F1s. It also contains a group called "McLaren Exclusive" which will be tasked with handling all the special requests for personalization that they receive from past and future customers - from F1s, to SLRs, to 12Cs and beyond. On top of that very small set of responsibilities, Paul is also the Program Manager for the new 'P12' Supercar project that McLaren will release soon as a successor to the McLaren F1. I believe Antony Sheriff introduced him at the discussion event I attended by mentioning he has the best job in the company, and Paul agreed.

I won't share the whole thing, but the note I sent Paul opened like this:

Hello Paul-

Took me a few days to get my bearings again after what has been described as an EPIC weekend. I'm sure you are massively busy with all of the responsibilities on your plate so I won't force you to read all the little things that added up to make it so special, but it was really non-stop amazing. I wanted to extend my sincere thanks to you for welcoming me into the fold. Over the years, the idea of receiving such a warm reception from the folks at McLaren has always been questionable in my mind since our two missions were not always charting the same course. I've written elsewhere that I intended to be a bit of a wallflower during the McLaren presentation I was attending, so I was well and truly shocked when I was invited by you to join the conversation like that. I certainly appreciate the respect and interest you all gave in the F1 knowledge that is rattling around in this brain of mine and I do hope we can collaborate on some amount of information sharing in the future - understanding there will always be limits. I have some questions that McLaren can surely find the answers to which shouldn't cross too many lines, and it sounds like McLaren might have some questions that I could help shed light on as well. I certainly see the opportunity for a mutually beneficial relationship in the future and hope you feel the same way too.

I also chose to ask him a follow up to the question I'd first posed to him in Monterey about GTR #04R and included a photo of the car. In his response he did confirm that our suspicions on that one were correct. Not that there were many other choices, but who knows how much time may have passed before someone finally got their eyes on the chassis plate. In his reply he also wished me "Happy Birthday!" and asked if I could provide him with my address, stating "I would like to send you a small F1 gift." Talk about unexpected - wow!

I didn't have any idea what he would send me, and I was led to believe by Henry that "it isn’t anything amazingly special" when he forwarded the tracking number to me after the package was sent. Truthfully I would have been happy with a t-shirt and I even told Henry that a pad of paper with the McLaren logo at the top would not disappoint me. I had no clue what Paul had chosen to stick in the box.

The package arrived on the 29th and since I had it shipped to my home I had to wait until the end of the day to open it. It was a thin FedEx box and was slightly squishy - again leading me to believe I'd gotten a polo shirt or similar. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and in the packing foam found this set of the McLaren F1 valve stem caps!


<-- Click

<-- Click those too

Now this was certainly cool, but it actually made me laugh a bit. Reason being, in Flemke's thread over on PistonHeads the day that Paul asked for my address someone there had posted to ask:

Originally Posted by dan5oclocksmith on PH.com

Do we know what sort of valve caps you get on an F1?

On one hand, when I read that post I thought it might just be someone being silly. When you get to 374 pages in a thread about the McLaren F1 hopefully every topic has been covered thoroughly from end to end. In that respect, I could see someone trying to be funny by asking about one of the smallest details on the car. However, in nearly every situation I try to take people's F1 questions seriously and offer the best answer I have in response. This was my reply, which includes a photo I've kept from an Ebay auction held back in 2005:

Originally Posted by Peloton25 on PH.com

These might not be the real deal, perhaps just rebranded? Anyway they are quite close to what is on the car.

To end up holding a real set of those in my hands just 4 days after I'd answered that question seemed like either one of the boys from McLaren noticed that post and decided getting me a real set was a fine idea or that the most ironic coincidence had just occurred. Either way, the timing of it all just made me laugh.

Now in my other hand, I'm still holding the FedEx box and it feels pretty light. Still expecting nothing more than a shirt, imagine my shock - literally! - when I peered back into the box and spotted a glimmer of gold through the foam packing material that I immediately recognized. I am pretty sure I did a double take because I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. I pulled out a bundle of foam and was even more surprised that there wasn't just one of these golden objects - but an entire set of them!!!




<-- Click

In a word - SPEECHLESS!!!

Now for those of you who have met me - or even just been paying attention here for a while - leaving me speechless is a pretty difficult thing to accomplish. I shook my head in disbelief - not ever imagining I'd be receiving a gift like that. Unlike the valve caps which I plan to keep sealed, in this case I opened the bag they were in and laid them out similar to how you see them in that shot and then just stared at them quite a while.

For those who might be wondering - and hopefully there aren't too many in this crowd - those are the featherlight titanium spanners and pliers (not so light) made by FACOM in France that are included in the F1's on-board tool roll used for emergency roadside repairs. They aren't actually gold plated - they have a titanium nitride coating on them used to harden and protect the surfaces of the tools, which as a byproduct produces that golden hue. I've held a couple of them before when I saw #068 in 2005 but never expected to actually own a set. Safe to say these won't be going into my toolbox - I'm going to try and make a decent lighted display case for them and preserve them forever.

I've shared them with a few friends and my family already and what I like to do to give them a real appreciation for what they are holding is to hand them my 12mm Craftsman combination wrench in one hand, and then hand them the same sized FACOM spanner in the other. The weight difference is a factor of three I'd imagine and standard response has always been "Wow!" so far.

Another interesting thing about that 12mm FACOM spanner that I found suprising - it is actually lighter than the set of valve stem caps. Wow!

Here's some more photos of the tool set - all clickable for larger versions.






I told the two gentlemen from McLaren that I have to thank for these: "You know, I was just starting to come down from the high of my Monterey experience and now these wonderful items land in my lap."

I also mentioned: "I don't care what these are worth as I would never sell them, but I do know what they are worth and can not believe you'd be so generous. Really, really, really thankful beyond words even."

I also added this:

Getting back to that line from your note Henry - if these items don't qualify as 'amazingly special' then:

A - You were probably just kidding and trying to throw me off.

B - You've been there far too long and the magic has gone (...sure hope not :-\ )

C - There's even more amazing stuff over there that I would struggle to even imagine.

I'll hope for A and/or C. Let's forget I even mentioned B.

Seriously!

Anyway - as I said above I was going to keep these things to myself because I didn't want to give the wrong impression. I was encouraged to share them by a frequent poster here who I'd shared them with privately, and Henry gave me the go-ahead as well. I'm glad that they did because I always prefer to share everything I can about the F1 and in this case these are some very special gifts that I am so very honored to have received. Hope you enjoyed the story and seeing these rare bits.

I think that is it for now on this whole Monterey story. I do want to add that an exciting person will be bringing some exciting news to the forum on Monday. I can't say too much other than that he is the real deal and ask that you all please give him all the respect he deserves. Thanks!

>8^)
ER