The third FINA Presentation livery - yes, there were three...

In my travels around the web in search of great F1 content it has become quite rare that I stumble upon much that is unique these days related to the McLaren in any way. Thus you can imagine I do get a little giddy when such an experience does occur. The other day I stumbled upon this unique pair of images:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_1000a.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/1000a.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_550.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/550.jpg)

It actually took me a second to realize that what I was looking at was not exactly something I'd seen before as this livery is clearly a mixture of several of the other FINA ones that we are already familiar with. With its all white flanks and race number 1 on the door, what it looks most like is the FINA Presentation livery seen on this 1996 GTR which our resident experts have determined was #18R:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_S96E05.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/S96E05.jpg)

But it is rather easy to see that this 'new' one is a 1995 GTR, and the other one is a 1996 as we've previously discussed. Looking at the new images I felt that this was too was almost certainly #08R which we learned from Le Man was the 1995 GTR that wore the other FINA presentation livery. If you are not familiar with that for some reason, or need a refresher, he shared the best images of it here in this thread: New pics Fina presentation GTR (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=527679)

What interested me most about these new images is that it features the USA Flag stripes on the rear and this factor, along with some of the other images in his gallery, led me to a brief suspicion that the car may have been photographed here in the USA. There was no indication of when the images were taken - and of course timeline can often be important in figuring out certain things. Luckily the website included some contact info so I sent the photographer an email in hopes of finding out more on those two details and today he forwarded me this reply. :)

I photographed this car in the spring of 1996 in Munich for Racer Magazine.
Unfortunately I cannot give you any specs. other than the magazine article I'm sending you separately.
When I get back to my studio on Monday I will try to locate one of the interior shots and, with any luck, I'll be able to identify the chassis#.

Not sure about you, but 'AWESOME' was indeed the word that came to my mind when I got his reply. :grinyes:

Here are the magazine scans he sent as well offering a few more angles on this unique GTR look:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/th_RACERMAGAZINE01.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/RACERMAGAZINE01.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/th_RACERMAGAZINE02.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/RACERMAGAZINE02.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/th_RACERMAGAZINE03.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/RACERMAGAZINE03.jpg)

So there you have it - BMW Motorsports or Team Bigazzi went through three iterations of Presentation liveries on two different GTRs before settling on something for each one of their race cars that was slightly different in all respects to each one of them. Perhaps now that these pictures have surfaced our friends at AutoBarn will decide to do yet another version of their 1/43? ;)

I'm in the process of cleaning up the rear view in typical fashion to some of the other shots that have needed some work after being scanned. I'll be sure to post that when I am finished with it for the rest of you to enjoy. I'll also share anything else he might send my way when he gets back in the office. :cool:

>8^)
ER

Fantastic find Erik :thumbsup:

But.......

You are going to shoot me!!

I,ve had this since march 2006 and done nothing with it :headshake.

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4188/finaposter.th.png (http://img179.imageshack.us/i/finaposter.png/) #8R if I,m not mistaken.

http://i44.tinypic.com/rrlibk.jpg

:lol2:

>8^)
ER

http://i44.tinypic.com/rrlibk.jpg

:lol2:

>8^)
ER

Yes SIR!!

I,ll get my coat :iagree:

It says in the article its a 96 model. Interesting find!

I think that's because it was 1996 when the images were taken and they would have been taken to promote the 1996 FINA/Bigazzi racing efforts.

They clearly didn't get their caption right for a few reasons. The winshield wiper being the most obvious one and the lack of front wheel arch flares being another immediate clue. Le Man will mention the placement of the ECU and probably several other points as well. The blue alcantara on the dash identifies it as being one of the '95 Gulf GTRs.

>8^)
ER

Good point. The first thing that stood out to me were the flares but i assumed they could always be removed/reverted for some reason

Good finds :)

Very interesting finds indeed!
It would be very interesting to find out, how #08R ended up to be "Presentatio FINA" to Team Bigazzi.

Anyway; fantastic Erik again!

Here's the rear shot - I am done fooling with it and think that it is better for my efforts. It would probably improve even more if I reduced it to 2/3rds its current size but I'll just leave it as is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/th_Presentation_rear.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20G/Presentation_rear.jpg)

>8^)
ER

Great find Erik! :thumbsup:

After this I wouldn't be surprised if there would be another version, one with the UK/French flags similar to 16R. :dunno:

I would love to have all these BMW/FINA/Bigazzi presentation liveries as AutoBarn 1/43s, as well the Silverstone '96 racers.

Bruno sent me the chassis plate from his shot of the interior - zoomed in and sharpened to be as clear as he could manage from the original source photo. While it is not what I'd call "clearly legible" it does appear to say exactly what we expected it would. :cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20J/th_MLF1_plate.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20J/MLF1_plate.jpg)

>8^)
ER

:smokin: Brilliant.

Now does someone know, how #08R became Fina's "show" car?
Would expect that some 96's GTR's would do that, but if these images were taken allready 95...?

Photographer told me he took these photos in early 1996 (between March and May).

>8^)
ER

Photographer told me he took these photos in early 1996 (between March and May).

>8^)
ER

OK, so it's very possible that point there wasn't any 96' versions available, or if there were; not this purpose.

Silverstone where GTR 16R and 17R first competed was held May 12th, 1996. Maybe Le Man can tell us when those two cars were completed? If it was very close to the race you might be correct.

Hard to say how or why BMW/Team Bigazzi got their hands on 08R though? :dunno:

>8^)
ER

Silverstone where GTR 16R and 17R first competed was held May 12th, 1996. Maybe Le Man can tell us when those two cars were completed? If it was very close to the race you might be correct.

Hard to say how or why BMW/Team Bigazzi got their hands on 08R though? :dunno:

>8^)
ER

Completion dates for those two GTR,s are as follows, ie:- Date passed to sales.

GTR #16R .......... 1st April 96.

GTR #17R .......... 12th April 96.

O8R, Was taken to BMW Motorsport by the GTC Motorsport team (Gulf Racing) for PR purpose,s. (I,ll check the timing of this) Not sure who actually owned it at that time, but Lyndsey used it for the opening BPR round in 96 at Paul Ricard, due to #15R not being race ready.

Completion dates for those two GTR,s are as follows, ie:- Date passed to sales.

GTR #16R .......... 1st April 96.

GTR #17R .......... 12th April 96.

O8R, Was taken to BMW Motorsport by the GTC Motorsport team (Gulf Racing) for PR purpose,s. (I,ll check the timing of this) Not sure who actually owned it at that time, but Lyndsey used it for the opening BPR round in 96 at Paul Ricard, due to #15R not being race ready.

OK, thanks!
This was new information to me.:cool:

Here you go, as per this page from Autocar magazine, 28th March 96.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9910/63838511.th.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/i/63838511.jpg/)

So none of the BMW Motorsport chassis were finished (not quite :smile:) at the time of this PR event. But as you can see in this pic, it is beyond any doubt that its a 95 spec GTR (#08R) that has one of the proposed liveries attached.

Just to add, Paul Ricard was 3rd March 96, so it was probably released to BMW just after this round of the BPR series.

Absolutely superb Le Man! :smokin: :lol2: