N299 HTW (speculation)

[rednesto]

Greetings everyone! I'm a long time lurker and first time poster on this forum, so try to go easy on me! I'm currently a college student in the United States, and for me cars have always been a bit of an obsession.

I wanted to start this thread to discuss the UK-registered silver F1 "N299 HTW." A picture of the car was posted by Hurstg01 in the unidentified chassis thread a few years ago but there was never any consensus on what chassis # it is.

Here's a link to the photo for those who are interested
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hurs...69488.jpg.html

Interestingly when I search for the vehicle information for N299 HTW I get the following:
Vehicle make: MCLAREN
Date of first registration: 27 January 1998
Year of manufacture: 1995
Cylinder capacity (cc): 6064cc
CO₂Emissions: Not available
Fuel type: PETROL
Vehicle status: Not taxed
Vehicle colour: SILVER
Vehicle type approval: Not available
Wheelplan: 2 AXLE RIGID BODY
Revenue weight: Not available

So, assuming this info is all correct, N299 HTW is a silver 1995 F1 that wasn't UK registered until January 1998. Was this car one of the F1s originally delivered to Germany and then imported to the UK/US? Or is it something else?

There were 7 silver F1s produced in 1995-- 033, 037, 038, 040, 042, 044, and 050. We can eliminate 040 and 050 because of the high mirrors, making N299 HTW either 033 (if it was rebuilt), 037, 038, 042 or 044. There's also the possibility that this was one of the later Ameritech F1s (which I believe were all listed as 95s) before being imported to the United States, which could also make it 062, 067 or 055/074 before they were fitted with high mirrors. If N299 HTW isn't an Ameritech F1 then it must be either 033, 037, or 038 before its respray.

Does anybody have ANY information on this car? I'd like to think that N299 HTW is in fact chassis #033 after being rebuilt, however there are obviously other possibilities and telling silver F1s apart is never easy especially when there's no time/location for the photo. Still, it would be really cool if N299 HTW is in fact #033, which would also explain why the car wasn't UK registered until 1998.

I apologize if I'm missing something obvious- I'm not Peloton when it comes to F1 knowledge but I find this kind of speculation very fun, especially when it involves one of the "missing chassis."

Thanks,
Red

[Peloton25]

Appreciate the thought you put into this. I'm working on hopefully getting an answer to the mystery through a source who is also keen on these sorts of things by way of official documentation channels.

I must say your own hypothesis would be the most surprising result of all the possibilities.

Also welcome to the forum. We used to have a lot of these discussions around here, but thankfully we have uncovered a majority of these little mysteries over the years.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

So the only thing that has been learned up to this point is that the vehicle was not taxed since 2000, so it has more than likely been exported prior to that point.

If anything else surfaces I'll add an update but it is not looking promising.

>8^)
ER

[Le Man]

Chassis #042

An educated guess

[Peloton25]

Windscreen banner is different and that F1 was in the USA from mid-1997 onward.

It was also sold directly to its first US owner out of the McLaren Park Lane showroom in London according to his son, so I doubt it would have ever needed to be registered in the UK.

>8^)
ER