Black LMs finally revealed!

Finally being an understatement!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/8ca8042c.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/McLaren_F1_lrg.jpg)
Clickable...

It's been difficult, but I have been sitting on this image for some time now in hopes that I could gather some independent confirmation of it's accuracy for all the skeptics. So far, three individuals with the knowledge and experiences to really know claim this is an accurate representation of the Black LMs in Brunei. A fourth source has declined to comment unfortunately, but I can certainly respect that. I am also working on gathering confirmation through a fifth source as well, not that I think it is really necessary at this point. :grinno:

Adding to the crediblity of the Brunei connection is the style of front plate included in the image. You can see some examples of Brunie plates at these two links:

http://plaque.free.fr/as/bru/

I'm sure you are curious about the source of the image. It came my way via a very generous person who found it hidden away on this website belonging to Pininfarina Senior Designer, Maurizio Corbi.

http://www.mauriziocorbi.com/html/gallery.htm

Those sources confirming the image's accuracy speculated that Maurizio could have had access to the cars in Brunei during his time with Pininfarina since they created several special cars for the Brunei Royal Family. I suspected he may have been comissioned by Brunei to create the piece of artwork, but he could have simply chosen to do the illustration on his own.

Just to see what he would information he would volunteer, I sent an email to him complimenting his work, letting him know I was a fan of the F1 and asking rather shrewdly: "Can you tell me more about that car? It is very unique looking for a McLaren F1."

I hit the jackpot with a portion of his reply:

"It's true, i took this image in Brunei infact i was there in 1996 like Pininfarina designer for some projects and i saw this magnific car in the Jerudong Park Garage.

I think is a unique car, made only for the Sultan."

So there you have it - 4 people confirm that the Black LMs exist, that this is what they look like, and the artist confirms that the image was made while he was visiting Brunei. It really doesn't get any better than this in my mind. :bigthumb:

Personally I don't find the graphics appealing, but as I mentioned in another thread my bank account isn't quite large enough for my opinion to matter. Obviously some members of the Brunei Royal Family felt this was how the cars should look, and this is how they ended up. I'm still hopeful that we can some day get real photos of these cars. I just made contact with someone else in Brunei who was there and had access to cars like these, so I am hoping to gather even more information from them.

Yes, this was posted in a separate thread (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=507235). Not to take anything away from him, but given the importance of the topic I felt it really deserved it's own thread for continued discussion. Plus I've had this stuff written up as a work in progress and wanted to lay it out on the table... finally. :)

>8^)
ER

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

:iagree:

Thorst, You make me laugh! I think they should have been painted plain black, or left in Historic Orange.

Another point, the car in the picture has the vent on the left hand side of the car, (I thought only the copy GTR's had this) also, there is only mention of "one" car, the other LM could have a different paint job.

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

yep x2:grinyes:

Wow. Great detective work.

Amazing how they could screw up such a nice car with such a horrible color scheme. I wonder if those are Brunei flag colors, or just some random scheme. Ugh.

Small numbers on the license plates in those countries usually denote royalty or VIPs.

(More confirmation)

Another point, the car in the picture has the vent on the left hand side of the car, (I thought only the copy GTR's had this) also, there is only mention of "one" car, the other LM could have a different paint job.

I actually hadn't noticed that, but my take on it is that this illustration was likely produced from an image in reverse. Another clue to this is that the windscreen wiper is reversed. I will ask the artist about this and see if he has a source image he might be willing to share.

He also mentioned that a print of this image would be available. If anyone is interested let me know.

>8^)
ER

I actually hadn't noticed that, but my take on it is that this illustration was likely produced from an image in reverse. Another clue to this is that the windscreen wiper is reversed. I will ask the artist about this and see if he has a source image he might be willing to share.

He also mentioned that a print of this image would be available. If anyone is interested let me know.

>8^)
ER

Yes, I guessed it was reversed when I saw the vent, wiper, and the most obvious to the eye, the Blue Wheel Nuts.

Notice there is nothing holding up the spoiler?
Probably just been missed out!

I think it's one of the ugliest Mclaren I've ever seen :(

p.s: just to clarify, I didn't design the livery of these :D

bye for now

Nice work Sherlock...although I have to agree that those go faster stripes are right up there with furry dice. By the way the background looks like some photos I have seen of the outside of the Sultan's garage in Brunei

I find it stange that the intake and wiper give the impression of a mirrored image, but the alphanumeric license plate is not reversed. I wonder what it could mean...?

I'm going to go against the grain by saying I think that the unique color scheme is actually not that bad looking on an F1. It gives the car more character than some of the F1s because it almost looks like a GTR livery. The decals and paint scheme flow with the lines of the car (even the headlight decals) and make it look somewhat more aggressive.

I know most of you would like like the mythical Black LM(s) to be a 01R replica, or be finished in papaya orange or maybe unpainted carbon fiber, but I think it's a nice surprise to see something different. HDF kits, high mirrors, and custom wheels aside, I think this is one of the more interesting looking F1s.

I find it stange that the intake and wiper give the impression of a mirrored image, but the alphanumeric license plate is not reversed. I wonder what it could mean...?

I think it means that the artist felt the illustration would be better from this angle, but failed to correct those details that really only people like us would notice. Obviously they wouldn't draw the license plate backwards though.

>8^)
ER

My God, you've done it! The greatest McLaren F1 puzzle ever - solved!!! I knew it was going to happen one day. How could anyone come up with THAT design!? Seriously, the LM is probably the greatest vehicle ever created by mankind, and it's 2 of them have one of the worst paintjobs I've ever seen. Don't we have sources saying it was painted to replicate the Le Mans winning GTR though? That's such a shame. But we finally know what they look like. Erik, you are the man. :cheers:

Don't we have sources saying it was painted to replicate the Le Mans winning GTR though?

Well essentially if you strip the graphics off the Le Mans winnder and these cars they would have the same underlying paint scheme. Black on top and grey on the bottom.

>8^)
ER

I glazed over this earlier...

...there is only mention of "one" car, the other LM could have a different paint job.

There is only a mention of one in the artist note, but other sources have confirmed the two LMs are identical. Hope that clears things up.

>8^)
ER

I glazed over this earlier...



There is only a mention of one in the artist note, but other sources have confirmed the two LMs are identical. Hope that clears things up.

>8^)
ER

Yep, sorry you may be right on this. Im just going by the actual picture the artist has drawn up.
If there were 2 Black LM's in it with different registrations, then I wouldnt have mentioned it!

A friend of mine is MP for the Air Force and is heading to Brunai for a few months come this spring/summer. I told him to be on the look out for a black F1, or to use to military powers to get into the sultans garage. Now I have a reference picture of what he needs to look for. Excellent work.

that rainbow really makes it look gay. too bad.

The decals and paint scheme flow with the lines of the car (even the headlight decals) and make it look somewhat more aggressive.They actually don't. The lines by the headlights make it appear as if the nose dips then rises, but that's not how the contours of the car are. The lines along the side follow the strake for a while, but then they rise in a hump over the rear wheel well, when there is no hump in reality. They don't follow the lines of the car very well, and give the impression that the car has rises, dips, and curves, in places where it does not.

On top of all that, the colors clash and just make it look ugly. Garish and bizarre, and totally pointless. They could have easily been different and recognizable and still pleasing to look at.

[quote=F1 monster]........colors clash and just make it look ugly......quote]

I don't think i'd ever call an F1 ugly! Even that one in Japan (Roadcar) with the huge stupid looking spoiler!

Why not? You can take a pretty thing and make it quite ugly very easily. Have you seen the one they painted brown? ;)

what an ugly paintscheme

The title of this thread was very nearly set as: "Black LMs finally revealed! ...and they aren't pretty"

...but I didn't want to sway people's opinions before they had a chance to see the picture so I left out the personal commentary.

It's interesting to see there's really been only one favorable opinion so far.

>8^)
ER

Well, IMO, it looks terrible. If I had the resources and chance to buy one, I would paint it all black with the black and orange interior. Nice detective work though!

What's kind of funny is about 2 weeks ago I was doing a very specific Google image search and surprisingly this very picture on that website came up in the results. :eek: This was the first time I had ever stumbled upon it, but was quite a while after our friend had mentioned it to me. I was still waiting on one more email reply before I went public, but I knew if it didn't come out with it soon someone else was bound to find it on their own. I'm really glad it all came together when it did though.

Still trying to see if I can get us an actual photograph. That would be unreal after all these years of looking. :sunglasse

>8^)
ER

Wow, nice detective work. imo, they should've left the LMs solid black.:grinyes: Pics of the Actual car would be insane

On top of all that, the colors clash and just make it look ugly. Garish and bizarre, and totally pointless. They could have easily been different and recognizable and still pleasing to look at.The reason I say the things I do is because I've seen worse liveries* on GTRs. This design is clean and simple, and it does still follow the lines of the car, even if your own eyes don't agree. The colors aren't even that bad when you consider some of the less-pleasing liveries that some of the GTRs have worn.

I'm sure most people here in their minds wanted it to be papaya orange, an 01R replica, or unpainted carbon black. It's OK to be disappointed with it, but it's hardly the ugliest F1 out there.

I wouldn't mind driving around in one of these things, nor would I mind owning one. If I found myself owning one, I wouldn't change anything about it (except for maybe the position of the driver's seat because I'm not exactly short.) I also wouldn't worry myself sick that the car would lose any of its credibility, because it's still a McLaren F1 LM, and all those graphics won't ruin its aerodynamics, acceleration, speed, or significance in automotive history.

*I am referring to liveries that were not designed by andybee.

I have shown you how the lines don't follow the contours of the car. You can't just claim that they do. Explain to me how a semi-circular line on a flat surface (rear wheel arch) is following the contours? And how are two lines meeting at an angle next to a straight line (side of the headlight pod) supposed to be following the straight line? You have to come up with something better than "because I say so."

Also, I had no preconceived notions of what it should or would look like. When I saw it, I simply thought it was ugly. So did everyone else. Whether it's the ugliest, or one of the ugliest, or less ugly than other F1s out there, is besides the point.

The colours are terrible. From a colour science and aesthetic perspective, they are terrible. Simply go to any webpage that discusses colour usage in design and hues and shades -- look up this combination on a colour wheel/grid. You will see that they are neither matching nor contrasting. Picking random colours like this makes them merely clash.

I must admit, when I first saw it, I thought WTF? but now, it's grown on me.

The fact that one, it's still a McLaren F1 LM and two, it would have the same underlying paint scheme as the Ueno Clinic car (my favourite GTR colour scheme) means it's okay. I certainly wouldn't say no to owning it, and if that's the way it's been all it's life, then I wouldn't change it either

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3649/sultanf1lm9cv.th.png (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sultanf1lm9cv.png)


Five minutes in photoshop.

(CLICKABLE)

You horizontally flipped the image, removed the artist signature and removed the license plate text. Impressive?

I think he added in the support for the rear wing as well.

You horizontally flipped the image, removed the artist signature and removed the license plate text. Impressive?

Well even though many may not feel the need for this image mirrored/corrected, thanks wouldn't go a miss.

Thanks!

Well even though many may not feel the need for this image mirrored/corrected, thanks wouldn't go a miss.

Thanks!

:thumbsup:

Hello,

You're the man Peloton25 (you hear often this sentence eh eh).
And what about the third orange LM which is supposed to be in Brunei ?

Phil