F1 GTR 96 Bigazzi pictures

[drewwtms]

I have never seen these posted. Are they new to the rest of you?



and



Taken at the 1997 BMW Club Oktoberfest at New Hampshire Speedway. Notice the guy in the Z3 seemingly falling out while taking a photo. I think that is renowned photographer Klaus Schnitzer.

- Drew

[Peloton25]

I'm sure I have these as the one with the Valvoline M3 Lightwieght looks very familiar. I don't believe they've ever been posted here either. I wonder if that photo Klaus Schnitzer took ended up on the cover of a Roundel Magazine? I think that it did... or at least I recall an issue that had a similar looking photo on the cover.

>8^)
ER

[Thorst13]

Whoa!
Look at the surrealism with that McLaren and M1 along those 3-series!
Two different worlds collide

[Mpowered]

I can't reacall seeing those anywhere. Their paint schemes make them a nice pair together. Poor little ole E36 looks like a brick along side the Mac. Nice find.

[McLaren Mike]

id like to see the look on the z3 persons face as he looks in the rear view mirror.
-Mike

+ nice find drew, cheers

[Peloton25]

Here's the Roundel cover I was thinking of - it's from the November '98 issue, so I would assume it was taken about 1 year after these at a similar event.



>8^)
ER

[///M-power]

Nice seeing all the BMW's together,is that an 8 series in the background o is the M1?

[drewwtms]

That's an M1.

I'll look through my back issues and see if that Klaus photo is in there. Then I'll try to find a scanner to use as that must be an amazing photo.

[Mpowered]

Have been listening to people wanting scanners. I found a Canon 3000f at CompUSA ( no I don't work there) for $49 after the rebate. It's something you'll might look into. I've seen several people expressing a desire for a scanner and thought that this might be your chance. I'm pitching my old scanner which only works when it feels like it. Hope this is not out of line.

[Peloton25]

That sounds like a good deal - I've heard reviews that put Canon in the middle of the quality race against Epson (1st) and HP (3rd). One of the reasons I've been putting off the purchase is simply that I don't have the time right now to use it. Even though I have tons of stuff I would love to scan into an archive as well as share, I'm so busy with life and other fun stuff that it would probably just collect dust for a while. Since technology continues to improve as well as reduce in price, it doesn't make sense to buy one until I can actually put it to good use.

= = = = =

On a related note to the thread, I finally received a copy of the Roundel magazine with an article featuring #007. The text of the article is available on the web here, along with some grainy scans of some of the photos, but I'm glad that I was able to acquire a hard copy for my McLaren library.

>8^)
ER

[cche2052]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

On a related note to the thread, I finally received a copy of the Roundel magazine with an article featuring #007. The text of the article is available on the web here, along with some grainy scans of some of the photos, but I'm glad that I was able to acquire a hard copy for my McLaren library.

>8^)
ER

Hey dude, does that mean we can't ask you really nicely for some scanned photos from that article?

After reading it, i have a few qns:

1) Why are the post-96 models harder to import to US? Aren't all F1s specced as equals?

2) Does the modification reduce the performance in any way?

Hope u can spare some short ans, esp if this has been repeated b4...

Thanks a bunch.

[fselldorff]

Originally Posted by cche2052

Hey dude, does that mean we can't ask you really nicely for some scanned photos from that article?

After reading it, i have a few qns:

1) Why are the post-96 models harder to import to US? Aren't all F1s specced as equals?

2) Does the modification reduce the performance in any way?

Hope u can spare some short ans, esp if this has been repeated b4...

Thanks a bunch.

the EPA requirements changed from OBDI to OBDII.

[Peloton25]

There's your answer - but understand that it has nothing to do with the spec of the F1 from different years, as you are correct, the cars themselves would all be the same. I'll expand on it a bit, to the best of my knowledge....

The sticking point is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA changed their guidelines for all cars in 1996 requiring a newer version of the on-board monitoring/diagnostic systems (from OBD-I to OBD-II as Mr Selldorff said) thus mandating that all cars sold in the USA built in model year 1996 or later have the newer system. You'll have to read up on OBD-I and II to learn the differences, but basically all model years of the F1 can manage to meet the requirements of OBD-I with a little bit of conversion effort from a Registered Importer, but the car was not developed to meet the requirements of OBD-II.

Since McLaren Cars had already written off the US market due to other regulatory hurdles, there was no need for them to make sure the F1 would meet this new US standard for their own 1996 MY and later cars, thus no provision was made for it. The interesting thing about all this is that the F1 in its standard form can more than likely monitor (and even data log) all the parameters and more that OBD-II is looking for. However, the OBD-II requirements as I understand them, also mandate that the car have a standardized data port to allow a physical connection to be made with the car, and also require that the stored data be in an OBD-II code/format so it can easily be understood by the equipment accessing the information. Additionally, there are standards for the sensors that are used and for the fault codes they give. This is where the F1 fails, as it's TagTronic engine management computer uses a proprietary code unreadable by the OBD-II scanners.

Another thing you have to understand is that the DOT's "Show&Display" provisions (enacted in 1999) which have allowed for the importation of McLarens and other previously unobtainable cars, only allow you to bypass the NHTSA/DOT's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards once a car has been given approval. This is only one hurdle in the process and basically it removes the need for crash testing and also allows the approved vehicles a free pass on other items like headlight height, airbags, specific seatbelt requirements and lots of other details that nearly every other car sold here would have to conform to. That's only one hurdle though, because once approved for S&D exemption, the car still must meet the EPA requirements for it's model year and pass an emissions test as well prior to being given the green light for importation. Without that OBD-II system, or some method of compromise with the EPA, those F1s built after 1995 were denied their Show&Display applications.

A strange thing happened about a year ago though, as the entry for the McLaren F1 on the list of cars approved for S&D certificates suddenly changed to include all model years of the McLaren F1. Certain people have suggested that someone was able to "crack the code" and somehow get the F1 to meet the stringent OBD-II requirements, while others (at least one other person anyway ) has suggested that some sort of impropriety has allowed these later cars a free pass. Who's to say what is true though without first hand knowledge. I wouldn't venture a guess as to what might be correct, I'm just happy that the doors have been opened for more F1s to make it to the USA thus increasing my chances of encountering one again. It really made no sense to me to exclude those cars built after 1995 based on that technicality so I'm glad its apparently no longer an issue, or that at least there is some workaround available.

Hopefully this clarifies things a bit better, and if there are any details others would like to add or correct me on, feel free.

As for the scans of the Roundel Article photos, they'll happen eventually, but if you read my previous post you'll see I one of those people that still does not own a scanner.

>8^)
ER

[cche2052]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

There's your answer.....>8^)
ER

Thanks Peloton. That was really interesting.

So does this mean that Mr Selldorff can bring in his silver F1 now?

[Peloton25]

Well that's hard to say....

All that has really changed is that post 1995 F1s are now eligible for a S&D exemption. I'm not sure how that relates to the EPA requirements which is a separate process. We do know that LM3 is "here" and all of the LMs except the prototype 'XP1-LM' were built in 1996.

Also, chassis #072, the black F1 with the high downforce kit that was for sale on the Motorcars Intl website has been in the USA for a very long time - even prior to the change in the S&D exemptions - and it was built in 1998. It wasn't one of the Ameritech F1s, so I'm not certain how it was allowed in.

>8^)
ER