F1 - The experience of a lifetime today...

[Peloton25]

I haven't figured out where to begin this story yet, so we'll just start with a picture.



That's chassis #068 that I am sitting in. It's no longer owned by Mr Selldorff.

Full story, images, and video to follow.

To sum it up though - today was a SENSATIONAL day.

>8^)
ER

[tdc911]

Did you buy it?

[bucciali]

The day has come.....

Our F1 guru finally has had his sitting (driving? I sure hope so!!) experience in the gracious F1, the object of his divine adoration.

Congratulations Peloton!

You must have in mode all day and will be for a few days more ;-)

The short message allready indicates that this will give us, once again, an incredible story, with lots of details and of course, splendid pictures.

All I have to ask is: do not let us wait to long for it!

/Bucciali

[PatrickT82]

I am JEALOUS

[Peloton25]

This is a l-o-n-g story - I will not be publishing a Cliff Notes version.

I guess the story begins about 4 months ago. I received an email from someone named Scott asking questions about various McLaren F1s. He alluded to the fact that his friend was trying to find an F1 to buy. I get similar requests for F1 info quite often, and while this one had the twist of a prospective new owner I didn't really think too much into it - I simply shared what I knew on the cars that were of interest and sent some photos his way. I think we exchaned about 6 or 7 emails back and forth and then I didn't hear from him for a while.

One of the questions he had asked was about silver cars in the New York, and in my reply I had mentioned Ralph's two F1s as well as the Dark Silver car #045 that Gary Schaevitz had purchased. I also added Herb Chambers' car, since it's from the same general area, but I neglected to mention #068. I can't recall if it was a conscious decision to leave it off the list, or if it was an oversight on my part. I certainly knew that Mr Selldorff owned the car and that it was silver, but I really didn't know where the car was kept, and if it was still in England which seemed possible, then it wouldn't really qualify to make the list.

Fast forward to last week and I received another email out of the blue from Scott, this time asking if I would be in Monterey, CA for the Pebble Beach weekend. I have always wanted to go up there for it, but have never really planned to attend far enough in advance and the same was true this year. I told him that I wasn't going to be there, expecting that he was just hoping to meet up with me and talk more about the cars.

His response honestly floored me. He told me that he and his friend would be there in F1 #068 and that if I made it up there he would take me for a ride in the car. :22yikes:

I changed my tune on the reply that followed - I wasn't planning to miss the opportunity to see an F1, much less possibly get a ride in one. Of course I was still reeling from the shock of that offer. I told him I would be honored just to sit in the car, but that a ride would be awesome! I mentioned that if his friend wasn't named Frank Selldorff, that it must mean that Frank had sold the car, which he confirmed in his reply. He added that the car had just completed a full service at the Mount Laurel, NJ McLaren service facility and was hopefully scheduled to be on a transporter from there to Monterey for the big weekend.

The car has actually been stored there at the New Jersey Port for about 2 years now during the time that Frank owned it, but it was brought up to EPA standards and has received it's Show & Display exemption status already. He also sent me a photo of the car he asked me not to share, maybe to prove he wasn't pulling my leg. At this point I think I was giddy with anticipation.

Now I knew that when Frank had purchased this car it had only the delivery mileage on the car - somewhere under 200 miles that I recall - and Scott confirmed that the mileage was still somewhere near 170. He also said that some of the original plastic covering the interior pieces was still on the car from when it had been delivered new from the factory. This car is about as new as it gets at this point running neck and neck with #065 that sat in the F1 showroom for 7 long years. He also informed me it had made it on the transporter and was headed in my direction so I locked in my plans to get up there.

I got regular updates from him for the next few days and things were finally coming together. They didn't have plans to officially display the car at any of the shows, but would use it in and around the Monterey events. I know it was at the Concorso on Friday and may have been at Pebble Beach as well. It spent some time at Pebble Beach Saturday morning, and then they spent the middle of the afternoon at Laguna Seca for the Monterey Historic Races where we had planned to meet. Afterwards they took it to the RM Auctions and I know some people got photos of it at all those locations. There will be no shortage of photos of #068 after this weekend, that's for sure.

Initially the plan was to meet up with Scott, the F1, and it's new owner at Laguna Seca in the early morning, so I got there at about 8AM. They were running late, and ultimately ended up heading to the Pebble Beach Concours instead, leaving me to take in all the sights of the Historics. I don't know all the old cars, but I know enough to get by and there was plenty to look at. I took over 250 photos in and around the paddock and at various displays. I found Jay Leno in the pit area and thanked him for making the ArtCenter event last month so special for me. I also mentioned that I really would like to see his Light Car Company Rocket and I think that will happen soon. I also found an F1 GTR T-Shirt that I have never seen before in the vendor area and bought that- it's quite awesome and I'll put pics up later.

It was about 11AM at this point and I was taking shots of a dark grey Ferrari Enzo in one of the paddock spots when I heard a young kid about 10 feet away say "Well the McLaren was blue." I headed over to him and said "Did you say that you saw a blue McLaren?" knowing that he was most certainly referring to XP4, and he said yeah. I asked him where it was thinking that he had probably seen it last weekend at Crystal Cove, or maybe the day before at the Concorso Italiano. Instead he tells me that it is here at Laguna Seca in a BMW parking section across the track. He said it was really far away, and I assured him that I would walk pretty darn far to see a McLaren F1 so it was no problem.

After being so bummed to have missed the car last weekend, it was really spectacular to find it there in Monterey. I know Mr Blair is local to that area and that the probability is high that he would be at an event like that, but I was surprised to hear he would leave it in a BMW parking area. It turned out to be inside of a special section that was fenced off and only open to BMW and Porsche Car Club Members. It took a minute of convincing at the gate since I am not a member of either club, but I got in and was able to get up close to XP4 and take some great photos. I also spent about 45 mins answering various people's questions on the car - the guy who had let me in the gate even came over and said "Well I guess I let the right guy in, didn't I?" By the way, can this day get any better? ...of course it can.

Around 1pm Scott called to tell me they were headed from their hotel to the track and would be there soon. He was apologizing for the change of schedule, but honestly I had a wonderful morning, I got to see an unexpected F1 (one of my favorites), I met Jay Leno and arranged to see the Rocket at some point, I found a very cool F1 GTR shirt, and to top it all off, I saw a ton of amazing cars in the paddock and parking area. I was so glad to be there regardless of the delay with #068. It's not like I could ever complain when they were being so generous.

About 40 minutes later I met up with Scott and the owner of the car who's name is Richard in the paddock. I never asked for his last name so I don't know what it is yet. I figured that they wouldn't let a car like the F1 out of their sight, but Scott informed me they had parked it up on the hill and he got the keys from Richard so that he and I could go and have a look at it. The car had a small swarm of people around it when we got there, one of which was a police officer so he and I hung back a bit to see what might be happening. The officer was there like everyone else it seemed - just wanting to look at the car. We moved in and shocked the whole group when the doors were opened. Scott told them he had found the keys somewhere...

I looked the car over for a while and it really is beautiful, inside and out. The one strange thing you will notice from the photos is that it has an odd wheel nut on it at all four corners. They have a loop that sticks out from them which is used to fasten the car down for transport. Unfortunately the car's full rolling tool kit wasn't sent to Monterey with the car, so they weren't able to remove these and put the normal ones on yet. They tried using the wheel nut wrench included with the car under the left side luggage compartment, but they are simply on too tight and the tool doesn't give enough leverage.

Scott offered for me to sit in the car which is where that photo at the start of the thread came from. The driver's seat fits like a glove - there is no other word. You really can't get a feel for just how compact the F1 is until you get in the car. It's by no means cramped, but there is just enough space and you feel like the car and all the controls are just an extension of you. The pedal box is a little tight - I had on a pair of Skechers tennis shoes and they were just a bit too wide for getting around the clutch and onto the dead pedal. The other pedals were fine. I didn't have to worry either way though, as I wasn't going to be driving... Scott and I left the car and went back to meet up with Richard and his friends in the paddock.

It was at this point that Scott said he would be willing to take my car back to their hotel so that I could ride in the F1 from the track to the hotel before they headed off to the auction in the late afternoon. I felt bad because I drive a car with about a 3rd the amount of power that Scott is used to, but he actually said later that he enjoyed my car. You'll see it in some of the last few pictures.

I walked Scott up to my car and then headed across the paddock again to meet Richard where I thought he would be. We had told him about XP4 being there and he was supposedly going to look at it when we left him. By the time I called him to see where he was at I was almost to XP4, but he was still in the paddock watching one of the races with friends so I told him I would meet up with him when he was done. I decided that I would go stand gaurd at #068 and answer any questions that people had about the car like I had done earlier with XP4.

About 10 minutes after I got there some Raceway staff showed up on a golf cart and were asking if anyone knew the owner of the car. They were saying it was parked illegally in a handicap zone. If it really was a handicap spot, it was the most poorly marked one I have ever seen They weren't kidding though and told me I had better call the owner to move it because they were going to call to have it towed and whoever got their first would get the car. (No, I am not kiddding - maybe he was, but it didn't seem like it.)

I called Richard and he came running (almost) to move the car. It was at this point that I got my first ride in the right passenger seat on our way into the paddock. There were three check points along the way from where it was parked to where we needed to go. Normal cars would have been stopped at each one to be sure they had proper access, but in a McLaren they just waive you on through.

When we got to the paddock Richard invited me up onto the observation deck of a friends semi-truck transporter to watch the finish of the Historic race that was running. They had a perfect spot against the fence in turn four I believe and the birds eye view was wonderful. Down below another swarm was engulfing the McLaren F1. In a crowd like that, the car gets no shortage of attention as I am sure you can all imagine. We were up there for about 10 more minutes and then needed to leave so they would make it to the auctions on time.

This is where the story gets kind of comical. Richard was giving me and his friend Barry a ride back to the hotel in the F1, but one of the ladies they were with had a bad ankle and wasn't going to be able to walk back to the rest of their cars in the parking lot. To solve this problem, Barry got into the right passenger seat and she somehow managed to sit on his lap and they even got the door to close. Richard climbed into the driver's seat and I took the left side passenger seat, possibly making for the first 4-passenger McLaren F1 ride ever. We were only going a few hundred yards, but it was still very funny.

After we dropped her off we left the track and headed into Monterey. The drive was probably less than 10 miles, and there was a noticeable amount of traffic, but it doesn't take a very large section of road for the F1 to be able to stretch it's legs a bit before being hauled back in by the Brembos. I took some videos of the rides with my digital camera, and except for my voice chatting with Barry and Richard along the way, they turned out really well. I say "ummm" way to much, but I think that my brain was having trouble comprehending the whole experience at the time. I'll have the videos hosted later for you all to see - they capture the experience really well, except for the sensation of speed. It was difficult to hold the camera steady, so you might get sick watching them if you get too close to the screen.

The ride was as Tiff Needel said - "sensational!" - the car is exactly what I was expecting. It is very docile when you aren't trying to extract all-out perofrmance from it just like the stories tell. The engine does indeed pull in 6th gear from very low RPMs. It also spins the tires profusely in 1st gear. The three seats are comfortable and hold you in place quite well - the side seats kind of coddle you. The view from the passenger seats is slightly less amazing than what the driver has, but you still have a great view of everything on the horizon. The view out the back as a passenger is fairly impossible. Incidentally, as you will see from one of my photos, the car had just over 400 miles on it when I got my ride to the hotel - barely broken in yet!

When we got to the hotel I spent some time outside going over the car again. He was showing his friend the owners manual and service manual among other things. He opened the front comparment and showed me the on-board tool kit. Those spanners are incredibly lightweight - you wouldn't believe it - they feel like they would snap in two if you tried to use them.

Now I know after reading a story like that you all want pics and the videos, but I haven't gotten them online yet. As soon as I do tomorrow, they will be posted here. If you have any questions already after absorbing all of that, let me know.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank both Scott and Richard for extending an extreme amount of generosity to me today and ensuring that I had an amazing experience with the F1 at their expense effectively. Scott was only at the Historics for about an hour or so and spent most of that time walking around and talking with me. I'm sure in a place like that with his automotive interests he could have found other things to do. Instead, he made me the priority and that was certainly beyond what I would have ever expected. Richard was a wonderful person too with and it was a pleasure to meet both of them - not just because they had an F1 either. They were both genuinely good people who conspired to give me the experience of a lifetime - one I will never forget. Thank you gentlemen - I was truly honored!



>8^)
ER

[bucciali]

W-O-W!

I am stunned, what an excellent story!

After your first post I was thinking you had probably found the owner of the car, at the show and somehow convinced him of letting you sit in it or something. But the real story is even better. A genuine owner shares his passion with another fan, the way it should!

A great story, very nice to read too, you put it down very nicely.

And what a luck getting to see XP4.

Next year I really need to go to Pebble Beach, I'm putting it on the top of my list now

Peloton, thanks for sharing this experience and as said in a reply somewhere, I'm glad for you!! (and yes, understandably, jealous, a lot

By the way, you didn't waste any time writing down the story either.

[tdc911]

Congratulations Peloton, great story and write-up. Nice early 30th birthday present. Good to hear that you have been rewarded for your fanaticism and that you were also able to share your knowledge.

[cche2052]

Congrats dude. It sounds like that day can only be topped by buying an F1
I'm looking forward to the mountain of pics!

[mini magic]

Congrats Erik. Pic:

http://www.supercars.net/Pics?viewPi...pgID=8&pID=152

[Mpowered]

Hey Erik, how bad does your face hurt from all of the grinning . I am very happy that one of your dreams came true. The experience must have been out of this world. Thanks for sharing your experience and if anyone deserved the ride it was you. You and a couple of other people on this forum deserve a bunch of pats on the back and I'm happy to see you got a big one.

Thanks

[McLaren F1 Guy]

Holy smokes. I don't believe it. You got LUCKY!!! Man! Your jaw must have been on the floor the whole time. You've just seen Leno's F1 and now #068 just a matter of weeks apart. That's luck.

I wonder why Frank is getting rid of his F1s? The LM was certainly something only a handful of people will ever own. It seems like right when he got rid of the LM, and now #068, is when he stopped posting on the forums. Perhaps he didn't want to hear our reactions to his decisions?

[theflinger]

Erik, that's just awesome. I'm so glad for you.

My server is ready for the vids if that's what you need. I took down the gallery a while ago but it's still the same server - plenty of pipe

[MalkaJB]

Wow, that's incredible! Congratulations Erik!

I'd test this insane streak of luck and go buy a lottery ticket. Who knows, you might end up with your own F1.

[GTI WR6]

I am happy for you Erik!!!! No one else deserves to ride in an F1 more than you!!!!

[ArchangelGTR]

Awesome! Funny thing is I actually dreamt about driving a McLaren last night. You must have been giving off some serious vibes!

What a birthday present. Happy belated!

Regards