McLaren LM

I am looking forward to incorporate the aerodymanics of the McLaren LM into a car project. Is it possible to acquire the exterior body/shell of a McLaren LM? I noticed from photos posted here, that they are bits and pieces lying around in the McLaren factory. Furthermore, it has been mentioned that the factory could repair almost any damaged McLarens from high speed crashes. I'm surmising they could only preform this miracle from spare body shells lying around.

No, they perform repairs by making new pieces from the molds, as needed. They have a couple made up in advance, but that's it. I didn't see any discarded pieces lying around when I was there.

And they certainly won't sell you a body shell to put on a different chassis. They aggressively prosecute anyone who tries to copy the "look" of their car. I asked about this when I was there.

Sorry.

Actually, I want the whole body including the chassis. The only thing I wanted to know is if they were willing to sell that. For the right price, I assumed. As for being illegal, I sincerely doubt it.

Btw, when you were at the factory, what were you asking about? Did you ask if they could build a new McLaren if their boss told them to?

Haha - this thread makes me laugh... :D

Production is finished - they're not building anymore even if their boss tells them to... :p

McLaren Cars is not in the business of selling extra chassis's for anyone who choses to build their own car around. If the spare chassis still exists - and there is some evidence that it was used to build one last GTR long tail, then it is being saved to rebuild a customer's F1 should the need ever arise.

They do service the existing cars and have the capability to build new body panels if neccessary, however they are not in the business of building F1 road cars any longer, no matter how much money you might think to offer them.

You are correct, that if they were willing to satisfy your desires that there would be nothing illegal about it. However, since they will not do that, faisalkhan speaks the truth when he says that they will vigourosly prosecute anyone who attmepts to copy their design or use their trademarks and such without their permission.

>8^)
ER

Why don't you contact the factory directly and ask them yourself? This way, you can be sure that the right question is asked. What does it matter what I asked?

This will also give you the option of not sharing with us exactly where they told you to shove it...:finger:

OK, look, I don't want to get into a bickering contest with you. Let me see if I understand your question. You want to incorporate the aerodynamics of the F1 LM into a project car, and in order to do this, you think you want to buy an exterior body/shell (from your first post) or the whole body including the chassis (from your second post). Is this correct?

First of all, there is no chassis. There is a carbon fibre tub with outer panels and steel subsections attached to it. There is also a skirt with diffusers underneath the car, which is critical for proper management of the airflow. Since these make up the body of the car and determine its aerodynamic characteristics, I assume this is what you are interested in buying?

Second, incorporating the aerodynamic characteristics of a car is different from actually having its exact body shape--you can have the same CoD and aerodynamic characteristics with any number of your own designs. Do you know about relative frontal area and polar moments of inertia and centers of pressure and car balancing under braking, acceleration, etc. as well as a host of other inter-related engineering issues? If you do, and you have access to wind-tunnel testing facilities and the requisite funds, you can make your own McLaren-beater.

McLaren, however, won't sell you parts for a car if you are not a McLaren F1 owner. Whatever body components you want, they don't have spares lying around for sale. And they will not make new ones for you, unless you can prove ownership of one of the cars. Even then, you have to ship the car to them or to one of their service facilities to have replacement panels put in.

The McLaren F1 project did not have profit as the primary target. It was about the prestige of making the very best. The McLaren F1 is the most capable sports car ever by most standards. The factory can command virtually any price, and the cars' values continue to go up. And McLaren continues to be very selective about its business practices. They won't sell you the parts for the prices that they charge their existing customers, that's for sure.

But since you used the phrase "for the right price" in your second post, I suggest you contact McLaren. Heck, even I'd build it for you for a couple of billion dollars. That would not only cover my production and legal costs, it would leave a tidy profit as well.

If you make any of these components on your own, it is a violation of McLaren's copyrights (they have international patent protection on virtually every aspect of the car), and they do protect them zealously.

In your second post, you also posed the question of McLaren's boss saying that it do something...in order to dictate what the company does (ie. be the boss), you would have to buy a majority stake in the company and also acquire the intellectual property and manufacturing rights for the McLaren F1 (as well as the LM variant). These are simply not for sale, but again, let's say that for a few billion dollars, you are succesful in getting them.

So, continuing to fantasize, you succeed in buying a controlling share in the factory, aquire the technical expertise and manufacturing rights and then demand that more McLaren F1s be built (including your LM, of course). You only have two more problems:
1. Most of the original team has moved on, and I am sure that most of the remaining members would leave your employment.
2. There is nothing left of the original assembly line. The factory has relocated and is now geared to exclusively produce the Mercedes SLR.
So you will have to assemble a new team and come up with a new manufacturing line and assembly operation. Again, for the right price, why the heck not?

If you can overcome these hurdles, you can certainly get a McLaren body shell (including your imaginary chassis). Could you then build me one as well? Don't worry about the engine, I will take care of that--I think the TVR Speed 12 with 900 bhp will do quite nicely. Thanks, buddy, look forward to hearing from you real soon...

Not only all that, but really.. full carbon fiber body and chassis. Not to mention mclarens 'over' pricing (IMO its reasonable for what you get), i would say you would be lucky to pick up a body and chassis for around 50k+

just get the real mclaren and get it all over:D

a couple of moths ago there was a mclaren chassis mould on ebay, looked pretty accurate to. dunno where it went.....