Restoring my own McLaren F1 photo albums via Flickr...

Well for many of you who've been following along here for a while, the images I share in this thread won't ncessarily be new... :sorry:

I had hosted all of the shots previously in albums on Sony's Imagestation.com photo sharing site around the time they were taken, and was more than disappointed when it was retired a few years back. :disappoin

You'll note on more than one occasion around here I have openly expressed my frustration that there must be thousands and thousands of great McLaren F1 images taken during the days of film that are either tucked in a drawer or in an old shoebox, or maybe in a photo album on a shelf somewhere that deserve to be shared. For me to complain about that, and then not find a way to continue sharing these sets of images which have effectively been relegated to the 'desk drawer' with the loss of IS.com seemed more than a little hypocritical of me. :uhoh:

I finally purchased a Flickr Pro account the other day so this content could be shared once again for anyone who wasn't around that far back. Hopefully their website has a business model that will allow them to last just a little longer than Imagestation did.

I have started with the album for chassis #068 taken in Monterey, CA on August 20th, 2005. It was a very special day for me and an experience not ever to be forgotten. :)

I used this text as the Album caption below and then littered other comments onto some of the photos where I saw an item of greater interest or reason to say something.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4312299698_7fa619e9b7.jpg

I was invited to meet this car's owner and a friend at the Monterey Historics, and also go for a ride in the F1 which was an awesome treat.

The car had been purchased just a few weeks earlier for $1.8M and up to that point had never been registered and was only showing delivery and service mileage on the odometer at that time. When I first got in it, it had just barely over 400 total miles.

You'll note the car has some strange lugnuts - these are designed to be used as tie-downs when transporting. The car had arrived in Monterey without the larger FACOM tool chest, and so the standard "F1" wheel nuts were not able to be swapped over.

The Focus in some of the shots is mine in case anyone wonders why it did more than just sneak into some of the shots.

I wrote a story of my experience that day which was published here on the web if you'd like to read more than just my captions:

www.thecarlounge.net/news/publish/printer_60.shtml

Enjoy!

Thanks once again to both Scott and Richard for the awesome opportunity! :sunglasse

LINK: McLaren F1 #068 - Monterey, CA - August 20th, 2005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton25/sets/72157623302974472/)

I'll add some additional albums over the next few days as time allows. :cool: All the images should be uploaded at 1024x768, but if there are some you'd want a larger copy of, go ahead and ask. :)

>8^)
ER

Beautiful pics, mate! Thanks a lot for this one.

cool

^^^ Man of many words, and sometimes Capital Letters. :lol2:

>8^)
ER

Well there is one F1 roadcar, which every part has been photografed. :iceslolan
Thanks forthe pics!

^^^ Man of many words, and sometimes Capital Letters. :lol2:

>8^)
ER

nOt alL thE TiMe ;)

Nice idea :bigthumb:

Thinking out loud, would this be a better place to share my XP1LM pics?

It could be, but you don't get too far with them before they make you need to pay for a Pro account.

I uploaded 438 photos from a local car show into a different set, which was initially what I planned to use it for, and they told me they'd only display my last 200 photos without a Pro account. At that point I was going to relocate them to Google's Picasa website, but decided that I could use Flickr to do what I'm doing here - so I 'Paid the Man'.

Picasa might be a good option for the LM pics - I am pretty sure it is free but check the terms before you commit.

>8^)
ER

Nice idea :bigthumb:

Thinking out loud, would this be a better place to share my XP1LM pics?

I don't have to say this I think, but would be great to see them! :smile:

Thanks!!! I love seeing pictures from angles not normally taken and detail shots (i.e. hinge shots and chassis plate shots)

Okay - shots of XP4 from the same day are back. I have a few more photos I need to add detailed captions too, but that will have to wait a little bit.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4320271180_935559e3a6.jpg

LINK: McLaren F1 'XP4' - Monterey, CA - August 20th, 2005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton25/sets/72157623322228562/)

As always, please enjoy! :)

>8^)
ER

Added one more album with only two more to go now, at least until I get to see another F1. ;)

These are my photos of Jay Leno's chassis #015 taken July 17th, 2005 at the Art Center Car Classic in Pasadena, CA. This was a special day because I got to meet our old friend tvrfreak, another old friend sdf1, and then some guy named Gordon Murray too. :naughty:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4334482976_83ef704d01.jpg

LINK: McLaren F1 #015 - Art Center Car Classic - July 17th, 2005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton25/sets/72157623363154154/)

Enjoy the pics (again). :)

>8^)
ER

Nice work again Erik! :thumbsup: Are you gonna try to get a VIN plate shot next time (is it soon you go???)?

Yes - unfortunately when I saw all of these cars that VIN plate yet wasn't common knowledge, so I didn't know to look for it. From now on, that will always be one of my goals when seeing an F1. Especially given that their 'Year of Manufacture' identified in the 8th to last position on the VIN doesn't always line up with the year each car was completed. That shouldn't be an issue with Leno's #015, but it's something that all of us should keep in mind.

As for when I will get a chance to see Leno's F1 again - I don't really know. I have started attending a weekly car show every Sunday morning about 30 minutes from my house where anyone can just show up and bring whatever cool car they want. Two weeks worth of photos are also hosted on Flickr. Leno is a frequent attendee to this show and arrived late on the first week it had moved to its new location and (of course) I wasn't there. Doh!

Instead of the F1, or any of the fantastic cars in his own collection, he was driving the white Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport he'd borrowed from Bugatti for a segment on his JayLenosGarage.com website (http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/bugatti/bugatti-veyron-164-grand-sport/). In the past, he's brought the F1 out to that show at least 2 times, so I'll just have to get lucky and hope to be out there the next time he brings it. He has somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 cars in his collection and close to as many motorcycles, so it might be a while before the F1 falls into the rotation again.

In lieu of him actually bringing the F1 though, I do hope to get the chance to ask him about his car's history a little sooner. :)

>8^)
ER

Another addition of old photos... :uhoh:

I've added a set of almost 200 photos that I took of chassis #014 from the 2006 RM Auction in Monterey, CA. I've only given it a brief description so far, but will add more detail later, as well as captions on some of the other photos when I get the chance. Click the image below to launch the gallery. :)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4351061630_a962521c65.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton25/sets/72157623416593626/)

Strangely, I didn't even snap a chassis plate photo that day, but I guess there were already a few references available for this car by the time the auction came along.

>8^)
ER

You know, the more I see the older pictures of 014 pre-refit, the more I wish it had stayed that way.

I mean, I really like the white HDF with black wheels look, but the yellow works for me.

So showing you almost 200 pictures at once was probably a bad idea? :lol2:

There's still chassis #060 in Japan - probably still in original condition with delivery miles based on the fact that when we saw it in 2003 and in 2007 it was still wrapped in plastic. Or you could buy almost any other F1 and pay the factory to respray and retrim it to match this car.

>8^)
ER

You know, the more I see the older pictures of 014 pre-refit, the more I wish it had stayed that way.

I mean, I really like the white HDF with black wheels look, but the yellow works for me.

Me too - the white with HDF and black wheels is very 'now', but will age pretty quick. Yellow, blue or Black on Black a la #069 for me (not fussy though, if you gave me the brown one with gold wheels I'd still accept it ;))

Ok now don't hate me for saying this, but I honestly would prefer at the very least a HDF-kitted Road Car over the standard one. IMO, it gives the F1 that not-so-little extra bit of styling purposefulness and athleticism that the standard F1 Road Car does not possess. I always like my supercars to have more than a bit of race-bred aggression to them. Plus there are the benefits of additional downforce and added stability at higher speeds, so for me at least, it's a win-win combination.

So showing you almost 200 pictures at once was probably a bad idea? :lol2:

There's still chassis #060 in Japan - probably still in original condition with delivery miles based on the fact that when we saw it in 2003 and in 2007 it was still wrapped in plastic. Or you could buy almost any other F1 and pay the factory to respray and retrim it to match this car.

>8^)
ER

I'm never one to complain when you share 200 pictures of an F1 Erik :D

I'd guess if I trully wanted a yellow one (assuming of course I ever had the money - not likely), then 060 would be the way to go.

If I was gonna retrim any car, I'd actually want it the way it was when it left the factory (which could mean retrimming a very nice colour car back to silver, but it's just something I'd do), so I'd still be stuck between 014 and 060 for yellow ones wouldn't I?

There's still chassis #060 in Japan - probably still in original condition with delivery miles based on the fact that when we saw it in 2003 and in 2007 it was still wrapped in plastic.
>8^)
ER

Hopefully they've still got this on the rear of the car, and not taken it off like they did on #013's BBF

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/308/eaffd86cjpgorig.th.jpg (http://img251.imageshack.us/i/eaffd86cjpgorig.jpg/)

So showing you almost 200 pictures at once was probably a bad idea? :lol2:

There's still chassis #060 in Japan - probably still in original condition with delivery miles based on the fact that when we saw it in 2003 and in 2007 it was still wrapped in plastic. Or you could buy almost any other F1 and pay the factory to respray and retrim it to match this car.

>8^)
ER


Yeah darn you Erik....there went a few hours of my day scrolling through your awesome pictures again!!! OOOHHHH THE HORROR OF IT ALL!!!:sarcasm1:

If I was gonna retrim any car, I'd actually want it the way it was when it left the factory (which could mean retrimming a very nice colour car back to silver, but it's just something I'd do), so I'd still be stuck between 014 and 060 for yellow ones wouldn't I?

You could buy GTR #27R and restore its original livery. :sunglasse

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20I/192071564_89ec17cb93_m.jpg

GTR #25R finished its racing career in a couple of Yellow liveries, so you could try and track it down as well.

>8^)
ER

It would be pretty damn good to return 27R to it's original Parabolica livery, no-one would ever think to do it I bet.

They weren't a well known team and it wasn't a sponsor-led livery so not too many would remember it. Think it looks great though.

Okay - the last of my F1 photo sets has now been posted to Flickr. This time 92 photos of chassis #016 in the paddock at the Monterey Historics in 2006. Click the pic below to access the album. :cool:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4402521025_5b72066df5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peloton25/sets/72157623420393483/)

Enjoy!

>8^)
ER

You spotted that back in 2006? Jesus. Time flies. I remember you posting them originally


Nice pics btw :)

So what does 016's interior look like now?

Got brief mention here in the 'Rest of the World' fleet thread with a link to some photos on FerrariChat taken by Martin D:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=6027548&postcount=125

>8^)
ER

Cheers Erik.

It looked better before :(