Clinic Car is XP3

I was surfing on http://www.qv500.com/ in the McLaren Model Guide and i saw this pic and under it was written "XP3 again, from an early F1 publicity brochure" Now clearly you can see the high placed rear view mirrors, THE characteristic of the Clinic Model. So XP3 is the clinic model if my info is correct.

On another page (the chassis index) it said that XP3 XP4 XP5 were all clinic models, but I think the clinic model we've been talking about is the car that's been crashed by bernd pitchetsrieder, or whatever his name may be.

XOTech, Peloton or faisal, or maybe even Drew, can anyone of you confirm this information?

rgrds

maarten van 't hek

Normally QV500 is on the ball with their info, but in this case they are wrong in their labeling of that photo.

The Clinic Model was a design prototype that was built without a working engine or drivetrain by a company outside of McLaren Cars, known as MGA in Coventry. It was built for visual reference and never operated under it's own power.

XP3 was a running prototype built by McLaren Cars and didn't have the high mirrors from any photo that I have ever seen. None of the XP1-XP5 prototypes had the high mirrors if I recall correctly, and it would be incorrect to refer to any of them as "Clinic Models".

There is one more photo of a silver F1 on the page you got this info from - I'll post it below. You'll notice on the QV500.com page they refer to that car as being XP3 as well, when in fact that photo was scanned from the Dec '97 Road&Track magazine road test of Carl Beal's Ameritech F1, which is certainly not XP3. I think I have his F1's chassis number written down at home, but I'm certain it's not XP3.

I do believe that XP3 is the car that Bernd Piechstrieder crashed, but have never seen real confirmation of that. He certainly could not have crashed the Clinic Model though... :D

Hope that helps - anyone can feel free to add to it if they want of course.

>8^)
ER

Peloton,

You would be the person to ask about this. In one picture (taken from above) there is an engine of some sort installed in the car. The BMW is clear on the cam covers and I think the headers are visible. Sorry, I don't have a pic on file.

I have heard of cardboard engines, might this be something of that nature? Or did they have the engine but no transmission, linkages, etc?

I don't believe there was ever a "real" engine installed in the car, just a mockup of what was to come. I don't know how they would have created the mock up - maybe they could have used styrofoam as I have seen that done in the past. The text in "Diving Ambition" states that the car was built to fool all but the most persistent viewer into thinking that it was a complete running package. I think I have one or two overhead shots of the Clinic Model that show (not clearly) the valve covers with the "McLaren" text on top.

At the time that the Clinic Model was show to the public and press in 1992, the first complete running F1 (XP1) was still about 8-9mos away. McLaren did have a running version of the S70/2 V12 from BMW at the time, but it was installed in the modified Ultima GTR chassis known internally as 'Edward'. Edward was used for chassis development and early engine development work and was later crushed after having all of it's valuable bits removed. The chapter "Heavenly Twins" in "Driving Ambition" covers more info on Edward and the first Ultima based test mule known as 'Albert'.

I have seen a few cars from other manufacturers, that could be considered similar to the Clinic Model, up close and in most cases they are rather crude underneath. Even some that would be considered "runners" were still not something you would want to drive every day with many hand-made parts and borrowed pieces used to put them together. I'm sure that with McLaren Cars' high standards that the Clinic Model may be a bit more complete than some, but I still don't think it could have ever been converted into a true F1 road car.

>8^)
ER

peloton, that pic u posted is chassis #42, carl beals car. it was photographer for the R&T shoot out as u mentioned and is also photographed in dream cars callender (this year and last year)

just taking a cursory look throught the qv500.com website i noticed a couple mistakes.
the F1 LM was painted Papaya Orange, not Historic Medallion Orange or whatever they called it. all the LM's were painted Papaya Orange, their site says a couple were painted black. that would be wrong... if i kept looking, i could probably find some more, but i'm lazy

mini magic-
Thanks for confirming the picture and chassis number of Beal's car that I posted. I didn't have the list handy unfortunately, but I knew his number was up there.

As far as the calendar images of his car - I have the one in front of the 'Granite General Store' in digital form (which btw, seems like an odd setting for a McLaren F1 photo :confused: ), but what does the other one look like and do you have a scan of it?

drewwtms-
There is a double page photo in "Driving Ambition" (pps 28&29) that shows an overhead view of the 'Clinic Model' allowing you to see into the engine compartment. It's hard to tell exactly what all is in there or how it may have been built, but when I compare it to other overhead shots of production F1's there are clearly some differences.

You were right that one can read the "BMW M Power" text engraved into the valve cover on the Clinic's engine though. You can't read the "McLaren" text as it's higher on the valve cover and hidden by the engine cover's center section.

I should mention too, that in all the pictures I have seen of the Clinic Model, there isn't one that I can recall seeing or that I can find showing either the center or rear engine cover in the open position. If you examine the photos on page 142 of "DA" very closely, which depict the Clinic Model's assembly at MGA, you'll notice that in each photo that the engine cover appears to be in place leading me to believe that it is a fixed, non-moveable item.

As I alluded to earlier, the text beside those photos reads:

"A tremendous volume of loving work was compressed into an extremely short time-span as MGA's specialists assembled the 'launch car' Clinic Model in their Coventry studio. It had to look and operate - stationary - exactly as the finished F1 would do, with operating lights and all interior details. In effect, like all major manufacturer Clinic Models - it had to fool all but the most persistent enthusaist into believing it was real..."

...and a small piece of text found one page previous...

"The Clinic Model would - with the excpetion of the engine bay, be asthetically complete in every respect both inside and out - and would be used for the intial launch brochure photography and as centerpiece of the launch party itself."

hermunn123-
A couple of clarifications... While the original McLaren color seen so commonly on McLaren's Can-Am cars of the '60's, '70's and later was indeed referred to as Paypaya Orange, McLaren Cars does now refer to the color as "Historic Orange". Also, I've never heard the "Medallion" portion and don't see that anywhere on the QV500.com page for the LM.

Additionally, though it is widely reported that all 5 production F1 LM's were to be (or to have been) painted that striking orange color, McLaren Cars' own book "Driving Ambition" includes a poster that claims otherwise. It lists the colors of the cars exactly as you see on the QV500.com page. In fact, here is a digital photo that I took of that section of the poster showing all six F1 LM's, as there has been a lot of debate about this same subject in the past.

>8^)
ER

Cars 12-15 have some interesting colour schemes, i don't believe I've seen those before.

So far, your findings are very correct. You guys do your homework.

The time constraints and detail were not feasible on the Clinic Model to complete a detailed engine bay. Not to mention that the chassis was not a working chassis. It could never be a running vehicle. It could not even be classified as a prototype. Clearly, as the XP series were the running prototypes. The Clinic Model chassis was fabricated purely to support the shell bodywork. Materials used were everything from foam to fiberglass, to even wood. Whatever would make the model as a complete form. It could never support an engine, other than a superficial mockup of similar shapes.

However, I will stir up the mix a bit in that I am aware of a few cars that have had the high mirror retrofitted at the request of the owners. If it were my choice with my car at sometime in the future, I would also opt for the high mirrors.