Ralph Laurens F1 chassis #074?

Saw these on a Lotus forum, and it seems to be photos of #074 (?) - what do you think....
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3649/dsc02948np0.th.jpg (http://img62.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02948np0.jpg)
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/2018/dsc02898mx2.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02898mx2.jpg)
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/870/dsc02895rx6.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02895rx6.jpg)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8916/dsc02894nd4.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02894nd4.jpg)
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8458/dsc02925lp3.th.jpg (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02925lp3.jpg)

Someone either fed this guy a line or he's making an inaccurate assumption - that's chassis #068 without a doubt.

I even have pics of this car from another angle in the same parking space that show the exact same Colorado dealer plate they stuck on #068.

ExoticSpotter has three shots of #068 in the same spot. In one of them you can see the Colorado plate. One of the submissions claims to have been taken in Malibu several months before Mr Selldorff sold the car to Richard though. :banghead:

http://exoticspotter.com/list.php?page=0&batch=bt00091/bt00091_231790.jpg&model=51&make=24&location=all

http://exoticspotter.com/list.php?page=0&batch=bt00061/bt00061_131430.jpg&model=51&make=24&location=all

http://exoticspotter.com/list.php?page=0&batch=bt00054/bt00054_107551.JPG&model=51&make=24&location=all

>8^)
ER

Foiled again :banghead:

Here's the link where i found the story - go to post 13 (http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24928)

Another F1 thread full of misinformation and half-truths. <sigh>

>8^)
ER

Here's the shot which conclusively proves my statements if there was still some question with anyone. Note the plates fitted to the F1 and the Mercedes E-Class and then compare them with the other shots you have of #068 from Monterey and the ones from Exoticspotter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_dscn01815ys1io.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/dscn01815ys1io.jpg)

Also - I recalled explaining to someone else recently that those same shots weren't of Lauren's F1. Turns out it was the same guy, posting the same images on a BMW forum:

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=101920

I guess I owe them the rest of my ride-along videos, but since he never came back to reply I lost interest. People rarely enjoy being told they are wrong even when I try to do it as nicely as possible. :shakehead

>8^)
ER

Another F1 thread full of misinformation and half-truths. <sigh>

>8^)
ER

Well, they are Elise owners, what more could you expect :lol: If it were a spot on an Exige Sport or a Elise GT1 perhaps their info would be spot on :screwy:

I'm not mad - just expressing some frustration. Normally I'd wander in there and correct their mistatements but with a thread that's already that long its like an uphill battle.

Here's another thread I found a while back with a battle (of misinformation) that's just not worth fighting - especially since it's so old:

http://www.3si.org/portal/forums/showthread.php?threadid=111636

>8^)
ER

Ralph keeps a car in CO at his ranch, most of the time. That's his license plate. Da.



Here's the shot which conclusively proves my statements if there was still some question with anyone. Note the plates fitted to the F1 and the Mercedes E-Class and then compare them with the other shots you have of #068 from Monterey and the ones from Exoticspotter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_dscn01815ys1io.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/dscn01815ys1io.jpg)

Also - I recalled explaining to someone else recently that those same shots weren't of Lauren's F1. Turns out it was the same guy, posting the same images on a BMW forum:

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=101920

I guess I owe them the rest of my ride-along videos, but since he never came back to reply I lost interest. People rarely enjoy being told they are wrong even when I try to do it as nicely as possible. :shakehead

>8^)
ER

Ralph keeps a car in CO at his ranch, most of the time. That's his license plate. Da.

Gerd, Gerd, Gerd... I know that you like to wander in here and pretend that you know everything, but in this instance you are wrong. :grinno:

These 5 of these photos were all taken by the same photographer as #068 came off the truck in Monterey on Thursday of the 2005 weekend. Note the plate being attached, the chassis number RL doesn't own :wink:, and the travel lugs which no one would drive on if they weren't forced to do so. Also note the incredibly large smile on the face of the driver in the 5th shot - guess what, not RL.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_11.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/11.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_1523507a.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/1523507a.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_1523507b.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/1523507b.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_1523507c.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/1523507c.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_1523507d.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/1523507d.jpg)

Also, Ralph's F1s both seem to have high mirrors and have always been wearing NY plates when I have seen them. Take this shot of what I now believe is chassis #074, and the shots of the LM in John Lamm's new "Velocity: Supercar Revolution" book.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/ralphlmc.jpg

>8^)
ER

I know that you like to wander in here and pretend that you know everything, but in this instance you are wrong. :grinno:

I would never pretend to be what you so obviously are, knower of all things, which is why no one comes here anymore.

What on earth is he doing with those horrid wheel nuts, they seem to have been modified for tying the car down. Really disgustingly ugly.

What on earth is he doing with those horrid wheel nuts, they seem to have been modified for tying the car down.That's what they're for in fact. From pictures over time they appear to be either standard F1 equipment (my guess given the occasional trips cars make back to England) or optional extras.

What on earth is he doing with those horrid wheel nuts, they seem to have been modified for tying the car down. Really disgustingly ugly.

The car was shipped to Monterey without the standard "F1" wheel nuts attached so that it could be strapped down on the truck. Unfortunately it's rolling tool chest was not shipped with the car so they were unable to swap over to the proper nuts when the car came off the truck.

There is an on-board wheel nut wrench hidden under the carpet of the right-side luggage compartment in the F1, but it was not adequate for removing the travel lugs. I guess the travel lugs weren't supposed to be or are not normally put on so tight - in fact two people cautioned that the owner shouldn't have been driving the car with them on when I shared my photos, but the owner had gotten word from McLaren that it would be ok as long as they kept an eye on them.

The F1's wheel nuts are put on at something like 400 ft-lbs of torque and normally tightened on by a massively long torque wrench. Without that, you can almost forget about getting them on or off. Here's a shot of it in action on XP5 outside the old McLaren factory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/Maclaren-F1cropped.jpg

>8^)
ER

With the car being so light, I wonder if you could lever it up on to a chock with that massive wrench. Done with enough muscle power from the right angle, it certainly looks feasible... Might be the quickest way to jack up the car without air jacks! :)

There is an on-board wheel nut wrench hidden under the carpet of the right-side luggage compartment in the F1, but it was not adequate for removing the travel lugs.

Here's a shot of the wrench I was speaking of. I meant to post this sooner, but this forum has been so busy lately (:evillol:) it just slipped my mind. Thankfully Sauc3's post with the Road&Track scans reminded me of it once again. :cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20D/wheel_wrench.jpg

This shot that drewwtms took shows where it is kept in the vehicle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20D/3543794-L.jpg

>8^)
ER

I needed a decent version of one of the images from the Velocity book to aid in another discussion I'm having. Once I had captured it I figured that I might as well share it here too.

This is the interior of chassis #074 for your viewing pleasure. :cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20D/th_DSC05218_L.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20D/DSC05218_L.jpg)

>8^)
ER

Three* wonderful images of chassis #074 here:

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/lists/twenty_five_greatest_cars/0709_1995_mclaren_f1_photo_gallery/index.html

>8^)
ER


* Actually you will find four, but I am really not a fan of the overdone motion effects on the first shot.