Clinic Model - Singapore Intl Motor Show in 1992

[Peloton25]

I received what I consider to be "buried treasure" in my email box this morning. An unbelievable set of photos of the Clinic Model taken in Singapore all the way back in 1992. I was shocked to read the story and see the photos - I think you may be too.

We'll start with the story and get to the photos in a bit.

Hi Erik,

I'm writing from Singapore where I live. Firstly, thanks for wonderfully maintaining the F1 forum. I've been a forum freeloader for the past couple of months since I first discovered it, quietly enjoying the forum thoroughly. Will probably sign up sometime later... but would like to contribute some materials right now. You may post this as you wish in the forums.

I've attached 7 photos of the McLaren I saw and sat in at the Singapore International Motor Show in 1992. 21 November 1992 to be exact. If you can identify which car it was and who the current owner is (if there is), that would be cool... then I'd know whose car I had the luck to sit inside of. I had access to the car thanks to my dad who worked for Mobil Oil, which was a major sponsor for the event. He was given a VIP pass, which he gave me for the show. I brought my best pal along, and saw the McLaren and some other cool cars. I think the day I visited the show was "exhibitors/trade day" - 1 day before public viewing. Also had the chance to sit in a Vector W-8. They had the XJ220 there as well, but it wasn't for sitting in, VIP pass or not. Pretty cool experience all in all.

Will let the photos do the talking. I apologise for the poor quality as these Kodak pics look like they're deteriorating with age. Just had them scanned today. These are really crappy shots compared to all the ones on the forum. If I knew better then, I would have taken more shots, like the chassis number plate, etc... but these are the only shots I have of the McLaren. Experience-wise, I remember that the seating position was super low - felt like I was sitting on the floor - and the seat wasn't exactly the comfy leather type but rather hard. Mostly, the experience is unforgettable. I don't know how else to describe it, except to say that the impact of the realisation of being able to sit inside a McLaren, and finally experiencing it... was breathless, and the memory remains to this day. Thanks to my dad of course.

Cheers,
Gerald
Singapore

I wasted no time in sending this note back to him.

Hello Gerald-
Thanks for writing! It is always nice to make contact with those who are interested in the F1. I am glad to hear that you found the F1 forum, and enjoy what we have put together.

I have some great news - I know exactly which McLaren F1 that is, however, you might find the news to be slightly disappointing. Or maybe not...

The F1 in your photographs isn't really an F1. :-o

It is actually the Clinic Model, which was a non-running prototype that McLaren had built for the car's unveiling party in Monaco in 1992. It was originally silver in color, then later painted the burgundy color you saw it in, and eventually painted yellow which was the last color I have seen. It may have also been blue at one point, but no real photos exist of that which I have seen. The car itself hasn't been spotted in several years - I hope someone has kept it since it is a true piece of F1 history.

The Clinic Model was (quoting from Driving Ambition) "with the exception of the engine bay, asthetically complete in every respect both inside and out" also "the car was built to fool all but the most persistent viewer into thinking that it was a complete running package." So, don't feel bad that you didn't know it was a mockup - that's exactly what McLaren wanted you to believe. :-D

At the time your photos were taken - if the '92-11-21 date is accurate - it was almost exactly 1 month prior to the first real McLaren F1 - chassis XP1 - being completed by McLaren Cars in England. XP1 rolled out of the McLaren Cars factory under it's own power on '92-12-23 for the very first time.

The Clinic Model was featured in the F1 Launch Brochure which was printed just prior to the party in Monaco. There are also some really great photos of it in silver inside of "Driving Ambition" including the shots on the front and back covers of the book. The Clinic Model is uniquely identifiable with it's high mirrors that house integrated turn signals, and the foglights in the lower front bumber facia. Neither of those items would carry over into production. At one point McLaren did develop a high-mirror option using parts from the BMW Z1 roadster, and fitted them to a handful of production cars - but it was a very rare (and I have heard "expensive") option. Another unique feature of the Clinic Model are the two "eyebrow vents" just over the headlights. Originally Gordon's design for the F1 called for those to allow hot air to escape from behind the radiators and lower the pressure under the car to enhance downforce, but they were also eliminated prior to production.

That's really amazing that you got to see and sit in this car, and that you have held onto the photos for so long. The images you sent over are like treasured pieces of history that would have been lost forever without your efforts. I must say a tremendous thank you to you for sharing these with me, and with the rest of the forum who I am sure will appreciate them as much as I do. I will do a little clean up work on some of them prior to posting - they truly are GREAT!

All the best to you! Say "thanks" to your dad too. ;-)

>8^)
Erik

Can you sense the excitement in my reply? I know... get to the pics already, will ya!!

They're all kind of large, so I will post the first one regular size and the rest as clickable thumbnails. Enjoy - and please take the time to say thanks to Gerald if you would. Not many people are going to make the effort to share photos they took 13 years ago.





I especially love the dash photo, as it shows several subtle changes from the Clinic Model to production. Look at the pods around the steering wheel that are countoured and have flush round buttons. Also notice the mileage counter that is below the gauge cluster is an analog readout instead of the digital one the cars ended up with. The steering wheel center is a solid piece of carbon fiber with a raised "F1-V12" logo moulded directly into the carbon fiber. Some of the XP cars had this style of wheel center, but it was gone by the time production began.

Also, in the other interior shot, note that the ignition keyhole is mounted with the controls behind the shifter instead of on the chassis plaque where the production F1s have it. There are some other unique details on the rear of the Clinic Model that I didn't mention, but I am sure people will notice them if they are looking, and I believe we've done some thorough comparisons in the past.

>8^)
ER

[ArchangelGTR]

That had to be the most incredible experience... to see that car at practically its unveiling!

My reaction was of awe when I first saw the car.. but it was in a field of other high end exotic race cars with similar lines. To see that car amongst the "common" cars (doors, lines, etc.) at that time must be incredible. (Yes, incredible is the word of this thread. )

That's for sharing that Gerald/Peloton.

[peter i]

Wow!!! I stay somewhere near by and never knew about this !!! Thanks

[F1 monster]

Wow! A very cool "discovery" for us. Thanks Gerald!

[Samurai75007]

Wow, nice find!!!

[MalkaJB]

Excellent contribution Gerald. Thank you.

[tak43]

I have been away on Hoilday to USA for a couple of weeks.

Have just been catching up on the forum there has been some great new photo's and great messages to read i have't caught up with all of them yet
I will by tomorrow night. I will be putting some more photo's up this week that i hope you have not seem.

Thank you Gerald,for the photo's

tak43.

[bucciali]

Wow.

A very nice find and contribution indeed!! Thank you, Gerald and Peloton, for putting this together. I think the scans turned out allright. Yes they tell you their age, but they show a very nice car

Cool combo, the white rims and the burgundy colour. Nifty, I would say

[McLaren F1 Guy]

Wow! That's a pretty awesome discovery. I love the color on it at that time. I wonder what the chassis plaque reads?

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by bucciali

Cool combo, the white rims and the burgundy colour. Nifty, I would say

The wheels should be silver actually. I think display lighting, the camera's flash, or a bit of both made them appear white in the images.

>8^)
ER

[pimp349]

Who would've thought back then that in less than 3 years the car would win Le Mans and dominate GT racing.

[BMW.WilliamsF1Team]

Amazing pics man, must've been awesome to see the F1 (even a rarer version then the road car that I saw, 065) like that when it came out. Thanks for taking the time, as well as Peleton, to put them up here. I actually prefer this maroon color over the silver pics that I have.

Thanks Peleton for the explaination of the Clinic model. I heard that term thrown around and I kept thinking you guys were talking about 01R even though the pics I had the the clinic model and 01R looked nothing the same, lol. Where do you suppose the mockup is currently? At the new McLaren facility hidden away somewhere or in private hands?

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by BMW.WilliamsF1Team

Thanks Peleton for the explaination of the Clinic model. I heard that term thrown around and I kept thinking you guys were talking about 01R even though the pics I had the the clinic model and 01R looked nothing the same, lol.

They devote a couple of good pages of Driving Ambition to the Clinic Model - otherwise I don't think we would know very much about the car.

Originally Posted by BMW.WilliamsF1Team

Where do you suppose the mockup is currently? At the new McLaren facility hidden away somewhere or in private hands?

That's an interesting question, and one that I really wish I had the answer to. I can't imagine that McLaren would ever scrap it. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion. Worst case, they could give it to me.

The last time the car was spotted that I know of was several years ago now. It was being displayed at the Beaulieu National Motor Musuem in the UK. I have one photo of it on display there, but I've looked and don't seem to have it hosted at the moment. I can do that later though.

I know that mini magic contacted the Museum about two years ago in hopes of seeing it, and they informed him that the car was no longer there. When they did have it, it was yellow. Also, the unique high mirrors had been removed and replaced with production style units on the doors. It still retained the fog lights in the front end, and those "eyebrow" style vents above the headlights though.

There are also some photos of the Clinic Model when it was silver that show the Citroen style mirrors. It's hard to figure out where that would fit in the car's timeline. Maybe it went Silver -> Burgundy -> Silver -> Yellow.

Another unique thing about the Clinic Model is that I don't believe either of the engine covers open up on it. We discussed this once before, and from the photos of it's build up in DA, it appears that they were moulded closed from the start. That makes sense since what's inside them probably was not much to look at. I've never seen a shot through the glass offering any amount of clarity though. It did have the Brake Balance Foil fitted at the rear of the car, and that was able to move up and down.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

Found the Clinic Model at Beaulieu shot hiding in an ancient thread:



Mirrors are Citroen style, but fully painted instead of having that black section around the mirror glass.

Lets hope that the color timeline went Silver -> Burgundy -> Yellow -> Silver, becuase that yellow is quite unpleasant in my opinion.

>8^)
ER

[BMW.WilliamsF1Team]

So is the Clinic model more of a low quality F1 look-a-like with some plastic body panels, knock off wheels, cheap brakes, or is it essentially a rolling chassis of the F1 (CF too) that would just need and engine and trans?

Edit: Just saw the yellow pic, thanks!