The Tragic Loss of a McLaren F1 owner

[mad4models]

Hi there,

I have heard the sad news below this afternoon. Apparently Jon Dokic who was the owner of a 1994 McLaren F1 here in the UK has tragically died after a long battle with illness. Although I did not know the man personally but I have read his posts with interest on many websites.

He had various stunning cars in his collection among them was the McLaren F1 which is garaged along with a Porsche 959

You can read about him here: -

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...23&t=39716&h=0

A sad loss to petrolheads everywhere.

regards

Tim Dunlop
Mad4Models

[faisalkhan]

I was in touch with him...his McLaren is navy blue. He had lots of other nice cars as well. He actually thought it was a bad idea to buy a McLaren...he said cars costing 10 times less delivered 90% of the performance.

His daughter was recovering from a serious accident last year. This is more sad news for the family.

[faisalkhan]

Here's an excerpt from one of J Dokic's emails:

--------------------------------
...My candid advice would be not to bother with an F1. Whilst the car is one of the finest automotive creations going Jeremy Clarkson's analogy about another car holds "It's like an Elephant, an amazing creation, wonderful to behold, but you wouldn't want to own one." The servicing costs are crippling (up to £14k for a major service)and McLaren's service and repair facilities are not as good as they would have you believe (my car has had to return to Woking for a repair to its door after a minor accident and the experience was no better than one would expect of, say, Ford.) McLaren can send out an engineer to repair a car if necessary but servicing still has to be carried out at one of their authorised centres, of which there are only eight worldwide. In my experience, and it's all I have to base this on, a bona fide supercar from a slightly more conventional manufacturer (Porsche, Ferrari,
Lamborghini) will provide 9/10ths of the driver satisfaction and appeal for a tiny fraction of the expense and inconvenience of an F1. A further issue with the F1 is where will you actually drive it and park it ? As you may know, there is something of a culture of envy in the UK with regards to prestige cars meaning that an F1 will always be a target for idiots and there is also no where in the UK where you can truly stretch the performance of an F1, even on a track. I do not know what the situation would be in the US but I would give serious thought to this, prior to putting my car into its current storage I had to protect it with a fireproofed, alarm and CCTV covered garage simply in order to gain insurance. My (lhd as they all are) Porsche 959 will be sold soon by Bonhams, again I can inform you when this will be if you wish. This offers a far finer overall ownership experience in many respects and can actually be used, everyday if necessary, parked in public and serviced simply. There are, at least, 40 outlets competent to deal with a 959 in the UK, compared with one for the F1 I would imagine that it would be possible to have a 959 serviced in most cities in the US. All the above is, of course, purely my personal opinion and it's obviously up to you to decide if you want an F1. I would advise caution though. Yours,
------------------

I still want one (or two)!!!!

[faisalkhan]

I seem to remember the 8 service locations are as follows:

England - Woking
Sweden
Germany
USA - LA
USA - NJ
Australia
New Zealand
Japan

There is also a factory trained technician in Dubai working privately for an F1 owner (Mohammed Bin Solayem) there, although lately I have heard of a second car in Bahrain.

[mad4models]

Faisalkhan,

Many thanks for your posts.
I beleive Jon and his family lived quite near me, I live just outside Derby, UK and I beleive he lived somewhere in North Derbyshire. I wish I had been lucky enough to see his F1, or even his 959 (another of my favourite cars), sadly this will not happen which is a shame as he sounds like a really nice man from the e-mail you quoted.

Regards

Tim Dunlop
Mad4Models

[mini magic]

i'm seing his f1 in a few days, at a christies auction in london

[kaoru-tochiro]

Isn't that a shame, almost as big a shame as all the Iraqi citizens that where slaughtered to fill his tank full of fuel.

[mini magic]

Originally posted by kaoru-tochiro
Isn't that a shame, almost as big a shame as all the Iraqi citizens that where slaughtered to fill his tank full of fuel.

i don't get what you mean

[Kiwi Te-V]

Yeah, Man.What are you trying to say?!

[Porsche]

I think he's saying that the loss of one British civilian shouldn't be more important than the deaths of the Iraqi civilians killed in the war, these same civilians that played some role in extracting and refining the petroleum he used in his car.

I understood that to be what he was saying and found it to be perfectly clear, quite outspoken and perhaps out of place, but clear.

[Kiwi Te-V]

"...civilians that played some role in extracting and refining the petroleum he used in his car."


And the petrol used in all our cars...
I don't believe the intention of the original post was to diminish the significance of the Iraqi's losses, or to over-state the death of a Maclaren F1 owner.Let alone place the death of one before the death of many...
This is a Maclaren/F1 forum and kaoru-tochiro has a tendency to speak garbage from time to time-I sometimes wonder what he/she really drives

[mini magic]

Originally posted by Kiwi Te-V
"...civilians that played some role in extracting and refining the petroleum he used in his car."


And the petrol used in all our cars...
I don't believe the intention of the original post was to diminish the significance of the Iraqi's losses, or to over-state the death of a Maclaren F1 owner.Let alone place the death of one before the death of many...
This is a Maclaren/F1 forum and kaoru-tochiro has a tendency to speak garbage from time to time-I sometimes wonder what he/she really drives

probably a suv....