Fate of XPs - Page 3

Stratoraptor · 07-01-2003, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peloton25
Do you have a copy of "Driving Ambition"? There's almost an entire chapter dedicated to that particular car.

>8^)
ER

sadly, no

u say that this car was burgundy? i think i remember seeing a pic of it. same mirror position and stuff.

mini magic · 07-01-2003, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peloton25

>8^)
ER

Hello, my name is 'XP3'

thanks

Peloton25 · 07-01-2003, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stratoraptor
u say that this car was burgundy? i think i remember seeing a pic of it. same mirror position and stuff.

Yes, there are several photos of it painted burgundy, a few of it painted yellow, and apparently it was even blue at some point - but I've never seen photographic proof of that.

A guy like you really needs a copy of that book. I have two copies, if I end up getting buying a Limited Edition version from McLaren Cars, I'll sell you my open copy for cheap. It's not thrashed, but it has seen a lot of use.

>8^)
ER

mini magic · 07-01-2003, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peloton25

Yes, there are several photos of it painted burgundy, a few of it painted yellow, and apparently it was even blue at some point - but I've never seen photographic proof of that.

A guy like you really needs a copy of that book. I have two copies, if I end up getting buying a Limited Edition version from McLaren Cars, I'll sell you my open copy for cheap. It's not thrashed, but it has seen a lot of use.

>8^)
ER

i have 2, ones quite thrashed (scanning etc) and one is in the box i got with it, never opened , that box is then in about 2 bags so its basically sealed for the next 10 yrs

TcarR · 10-10-2003, 11:01 PM

We still haven't worked out the fate of the XPs. I was under the impression XP3 was crashed by Bernd, but from the photos i've seen it looked repairable. And way should XP2 not be running? It was the crash test car, but i don't think it was a write off. Surely it was repaired and is lingering around somewhere. Any body know of any tests it was subjected to that might make it a write off?

Do youy think McLaren will sell XPLM and XPGT? Afterall they sold XP4 and are about to sell 065 (the park lane car).

Peloton25 · 10-10-2003, 11:26 PM

I'll agree that it's possible that XP3 could have been repaired, but I have no information that suggest that it was and the car hasn't been seen for a very long time as far as I'm aware.

I don't think XP2 was ever a complete car - I'm not sure if "Driving Ambition" actually confirms that it was a write off, but I do know cars used in most government crash tests are destroyed afterwards. The fact that XP2 was supposedly driveable following the test does lend credibility to the fact that it could have been repaired, but I'm doubtful that McLaren did.

McLaren Cars didn't actually sell XP4 according to the story that I have heard. Supposedly, the car was given to a relative of the late Bruce McLaren or possibly to the Bruce McLaren Trust and then it found it's way into the hands of it's US owner, Larry Blair, as he is apparently a friend of the family. I'm sure there's more to the story, but specific details like that prove hard to come by.

I honestly don't believe that McLaren Cars would ever sell XPGT, XP1 LM or XP5. I doubt they need the money as much as they would want to preserve those cars for their company history. They are also in possession of GTR #09R & #01R and I don't believe they will sell them either. #01R was the car that won LeMans in '95 & #09R is the GTR used in the McLaren Adrenaline program that wears the West McLaren livery like the current MBZ Formula One cars do.

I can't guarantee all that info, but I'm fairly certain about the claims I make and the opinions I express.

>8^)
ER

TcarR · 10-10-2003, 11:50 PM

I have consulted with my Driving Ambition and all it says is that XP2 was given to BMW as soon as it had been built. It was later returned and readied for the MIRA crash test. After the test it was completely driveable and would have been road legal had the headlights not popped out. XP2 was also inverted to check that occupants could get out if the car flipped. Driving Ambition says that the car survived undamaged. There is no mention as to what happens to the car next.

Apparently XP3 was initially McLarens main test car following the XP1 'accident' and with XP2 being with BMW. BMW did test with this car but i'm not sure it was ever in munich. I did once here that an F1 in the BMW museum in Munich is XP3. Know anything about that?

TcarR · 10-11-2003, 12:14 AM

IMPORTANT!! Just found this in Driving ambition, which is referring to a time not long before customer car production:

"In Britain the four remaining prototypes regularly tested alongside the Grand Prix cars at Silverstone and never looked slow, while they also covered hundreds of miles at Goodwood, Chobham, MIRA and often ran on the two mile straightline runway strip at Bruntingthorpe"

it goes on:

"The development programmes would continue, but much of the theory and many of the doubts, had been proved and disproved as the McLaren F1 approached production"

Sounds to me like XP2 was repaired and was used, as intended, as a standard prototype doing the same sort of work as XP3,4 and 5. I can't be sure of this, but that is what it sounds like.

As somebody got a picture of the car Bernd crashed. I'm sure we could work out what car it was.

exoticcarsite · 10-11-2003, 01:01 AM

ummmmmm i just noticed something about the xp4.
the first set of pictures where it is blue infront of thge house with the porche n the ferrari in the garage, and the pics of the xp4 from tim cottinghams site.

anyone notice the difference:

ahem, the different lights. if the yare both the same model of xp4, why are the lights changed????

exoticcarsite · 10-11-2003, 01:04 AM

hell i just noticed then that it even has a different " rear bar" the blue one has 4 sets of oval/circular mesh above the exhausts and the green one only has 2......

Peloton25 · 10-11-2003, 01:51 AM

I've said it many times, but I'll say it again. Those photos you see of the XPs with different front and rear treatments from what you find on the production cars are very early photos taken during the development process before all of the final design details had been decided upon. You'll find photos of XP3 in various states of design - most shots show it with the lower fog lights integrated into the front air ducts as it was the last XP to have that feature, but I have also seen a photo of the car with the production front end lacking those lights and still finished in black instead of the car's silver paint. You'll also find photo of XP5 where it too had the strange front corner markers. There was also a mirror change shortly after production started. XP4 still wears the old style mirror which comes from the Lotus Esprit - most of the other cars that had them XP5 included, have been upgraded to the new mirror which comes from the VW Corrado. Anyway, there were lots of little tweaks along the way - most invisible from the outside as the prototypes progressed through the development process and eventually they would all receive the updates you see on the production cars.

XP4 was resprayed at some point - it was prior to the car leaving McLaren's hands as it wore it's new blue paint for the AutoCar test and also in the Top Gear video. Maybe McLaren Cars decided that original green/gray paint scheme simply wasn't that impressive. I certainly don't like it.

>8^)
ER

McLaren Mike · 10-11-2003, 06:52 AM

Anyone, just wondering if larry blair decided to sell xp4, would it be cheaper than a normal F1, or would homologation costs bring it back up to standard f1 costs. I noticed this on qv500.

Low High
F1 Prototype 5 (4) 1992 - '93 £500,000 £600,000

Also I was wondering wether anyone has any XP1 pics, besides that one found in Driving Ambition previously posted by XOTech, or any pics of XP2 besides the ones on wreckedexotics.com. Or anyones of Xp4 besides cottinghams or the ones at the house with a ferrari and porsche in the garage. Peloton, there has to be at least one more, with 5000 pics.

I have located pics of #65, might be new to you, quite good but blurred because of the reflection. URL below.

http://justin.ruin.org/photo_album/C...n_F1_GTR_2002/

PS:jomo, any news on which f1 is the highest preference atm?

-cheers

Mike

mini magic · 10-11-2003, 08:38 AM

i have a few of the cars u want, i'll look later and post them.

Btw, the updated mirrors (thinner ones than most road cars) came from the XJ220 (they look identical)

TcarR · 10-11-2003, 09:39 AM

So now we know the following:

XP1 - Destroyed
XP2 - Looks likely that it was rebuilt after the crash tests and rejoined the development program. But where is it now?
XP3 - Development car, but was it the one Bernd P crashed?
XP4 - In the states with relative of Bruce McLaren
XP5 - In woking (or park lane showroom) as the fastest production car ever.

Really what we need to determine is what car did Bernd P crash. So anybody care to post a picture of the car, however upsetting it may be.

mini magic · 10-11-2003, 10:41 AM

he crashed XP3, everyone knows that. Here is a pic of it

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