Great Story: McLaren F1 - Still the ultimate

This was posted on another forum that I read, and I felt it was truly excellent and worth sharing with this group:

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Real car enthusiasts enjoy cars, no matter where they come from, no matter who made them or how fast and expensive they are. But the McLaren F1, launched over a decade ago remains to be the ultimate. It represents everything that a car manufacturer and driver strives for to acheive and satisfy the number 1 criterion: "desirability".

Most of my friends are car enthusiasts, some don't have licenses but CAN drive, some of us drive and crave and tinker for more performance with cars that we can feasibly afford to run. It's just the general problem that we don't earn millions of pounds to enjoy the upper spectrum of automobilia.

Speaking of the lack of millions. Me and a few friends kept our spending tight last weekend. We all decided to do something without spending much money, if any if possible. We splashed out a meagre £2.50 each as we tripped through Central London at night. Believe me, to witness automotive history, to lay naked eyes on automotive art and the anticipation to be within 1 metre from the 241 MPH supercar was far more than you can ask for with a £2.50 outlay on travel.

It wasn't easy to reach Park Lane from where we lived. A 2 hour bus journey through the conjested metropolis mean't we had to walk from Trafalgar Square, through Picadilly Circus, through the Strand and then to Hyde Park corner. It was an hour walk, disturbed and interupted by the sight of good looking drunken posh ladies on a saturday night out, the sight, sounds and vibrations of passing Ferrari 360 Modenas, 550 Maranellos, Porsche 996 Carerras, Porsche 996 Turbos and Bentley super saloons on the way to the mighty McLaren. We thought that seeing the fastest car in the world would be a dissapointment after all this..

This was one of the 100 cars that took 3.5 months to build, by craftsmen specialising in Carbon Fibre composites, engine management and optimisation by BMW's top tier engineering team, by talented interior consultants and tailors of leather and other luxury fabrics all overseen by ex-Formula 1 big brains, Gordon Murray. No compromise, and he was serious. Even just a single gramme of in-balance in the hand crafted gear shifter simply did not pass Murray's quality control.

This was the car that clocked the initial 220 MPH by former World F1 Champion Mika Hakkinen. Then 230+ MPH top speed with just 580 BHP in hot weather in the same Nardo test track, and then succeeding that in 1998 with 241 MPH - smashing its own record in full 627 HP production specification.

This was the car that motoring journal, Autocar launched the XP5 prototype from standstill to 60 in 3.2 seconds...using PART-THROTTLE.

As facinating as it's top speed and acceleration is, the visual quality of the car is simply well ahead of its time. We've seen and touched new Ferraris, Porsches, BMW M cars and Bentleys, but the McLaren is a work of art in 3 dimentions. The underbody floor is so smooth and un-interupted along 80% of the car's length, that you can see the reflections of the show room floor. The 24-carat gold heat shield simply shines through the cooling vents of the rear engine hatch, just hovering above the exhaust resonators belonging to the emissions system that costs as much as your average Focus. Or what about the billet machined ONE-peice brake calipers built by Brembo of Italy?

The McLaren showroom sits on the corner of Park Lane. Across the street is a Porsche show room, and a Rolls Royce show room, and a BMW show room after that. All seemed anti-climatic after seeing the McLaren. We was dwarfed by the size of the Rolls Royce Phantom. If you thought the new BMW 7 series was a giant, you havent seen nothing yet.

We didn't carry any cameras, but some of my friends had built in versions in their phones. We took a few snaps, but the resolution was too poor to do the car any justice. After 30 minutes of droolling and dreaming, we walked back. More exotic machinery zoomed and trundled by. We saw the Lamborgini Murcielago and the new Gallardo, we took snaps and touched the body shells of Italy's most ourageous pair of supercars of recent times. Yet, as stunning and out of the box these cars are in person, the McLaren F1 was naturally on our minds.

A Silver R34 Skyline GTR raced by. We saw, but our reactions were blunt. The presence of any "mere" performance car that night after the McLaren, either dashing past at 60 MPH at full throttle or parked silent suddenly seemed average. The McLaren F1 has altered our perception and palettes.

Car manufacturers and fan boys hope eagerly that something else might topple the McLaren. Promises of higher top speeds and quicker 1/4 mile times. But yet not ONE manufacturer or fan boy has ever showed or matched the build quality, the attention to detail, the all round capability of the McLaren.

In my opinion, it is still the ultimate road car.

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:thumbsup:

>8^)
ER

extraordinary peformance at both ends of the speed spectrum;
stunning design from all angles;
innovative engineering using of state-of-the-art materials;
excrutiating attention to detail;
no-compromise anywhere, period;
luxurios, but not ostentatious interior;
designed for a driving, not selling;
extremely easy to drive around town;

There are cars that can compete in a few of these categories. But NONE can ever be considered comparable if looked at in totality.

This is the best car ever. In a class by itself.

cool. Thanks


Glad to see you are still here Mr. Sellforff :)

Cheers

When was the last time you saw 068 Mr Selldorff?
Hows that new LM video (changing gears) progressing?
-Mike:aus:

When was the last time you saw 068 Mr Selldorff?
Hows that new LM video (changing gears) progressing?
-Mike:aus:

yesterday. I hadn't seen it in a while, it is absolutely gorgeous. it was like walking into a dealer showroom and seeing a brand new car, because it essentially is.

LM is still bundled for the winter.

Mr Selldorff-
Would you have any way of knowing if these two photos are truly shots of #068? The source on the first one was a website that sells high end luxury and exotic cars in England I believe. The second photo is sourced from a book on exotics and apparently identified the photo as being of #068. They both do seem to be photos of the same car - whether it's really #068 though is still a small question.

http://speed.supercars.net/boardpics/2004-1-29/2076067-Peloton25a.jpg

http://speed.supercars.net/boardpics/2004-1-29/2076067-Peloton25b.jpg

>8^)
ER

Thats 068, says the ultimate history of fast cars by jonothan wood, I was like "hey, I know the owner".
Can you post some pics of 068 if you get the time, its a little rarity to see good pics of that, I think?
Mr Selldorff, I take it you didn't drive it yesterday? Any dealer imparticular ;)?
I thought the LM was bundled, what about that BMW meeting at tms? That was recent no?
-Mike:aus:

the website is from Duncan Hamilton, in hampshire england IIRC, http://www.duncanhamilton.com/ that's probably where mr S bought the car...

it is. Pelton is just ultra thorough as usual :D

I would like to thank all of the people for sharing all of the information on the McLaren. I am a newcomer to the forum and hope that somewhere down the road I can make a contribution. I only regret that when I was in London a few years back that I didn't stop and visit the McLaren showroom. Have grown to love everything about the McLaren's timeless beauty. Most other cars age while the McLaren continues to look great year after year. I can only hope that somewhere in the future I can finally see one in person.

Welcome to the boards! I like the avatar :)

I've been busy getting the email address fixed. I appreciate the compliment. Had no idea there was so much information on the auto forums. Had skipped over it time and time again. But it's great to find people who have the same passions. I made the avatar. I just hope I didn't infirnge on any copyright info.