Black LMs finally revealed!

[Peloton25]

Finally being an understatement!


Clickable...

It's been difficult, but I have been sitting on this image for some time now in hopes that I could gather some independent confirmation of it's accuracy for all the skeptics. So far, three individuals with the knowledge and experiences to really know claim this is an accurate representation of the Black LMs in Brunei. A fourth source has declined to comment unfortunately, but I can certainly respect that. I am also working on gathering confirmation through a fifth source as well, not that I think it is really necessary at this point.

Adding to the crediblity of the Brunei connection is the style of front plate included in the image. You can see some examples of Brunie plates at these two links:

http://plaque.free.fr/as/bru/

I'm sure you are curious about the source of the image. It came my way via a very generous person who found it hidden away on this website belonging to Pininfarina Senior Designer, Maurizio Corbi.

http://www.mauriziocorbi.com/html/gallery.htm

Those sources confirming the image's accuracy speculated that Maurizio could have had access to the cars in Brunei during his time with Pininfarina since they created several special cars for the Brunei Royal Family. I suspected he may have been comissioned by Brunei to create the piece of artwork, but he could have simply chosen to do the illustration on his own.

Just to see what he would information he would volunteer, I sent an email to him complimenting his work, letting him know I was a fan of the F1 and asking rather shrewdly: "Can you tell me more about that car? It is very unique looking for a McLaren F1."

I hit the jackpot with a portion of his reply:

"It's true, i took this image in Brunei infact i was there in 1996 like Pininfarina designer for some projects and i saw this magnific car in the Jerudong Park Garage.

I think is a unique car, made only for the Sultan."

So there you have it - 4 people confirm that the Black LMs exist, that this is what they look like, and the artist confirms that the image was made while he was visiting Brunei. It really doesn't get any better than this in my mind.

Personally I don't find the graphics appealing, but as I mentioned in another thread my bank account isn't quite large enough for my opinion to matter. Obviously some members of the Brunei Royal Family felt this was how the cars should look, and this is how they ended up. I'm still hopeful that we can some day get real photos of these cars. I just made contact with someone else in Brunei who was there and had access to cars like these, so I am hoping to gather even more information from them.

Yes, this was posted in a separate thread. Not to take anything away from him, but given the importance of the topic I felt it really deserved it's own thread for continued discussion. Plus I've had this stuff written up as a work in progress and wanted to lay it out on the table... finally.

>8^)
ER

[Thorst13]

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

[payso]

Originally Posted by Thorst13

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

Thorst, You make me laugh! I think they should have been painted plain black, or left in Historic Orange.

Another point, the car in the picture has the vent on the left hand side of the car, (I thought only the copy GTR's had this) also, there is only mention of "one" car, the other LM could have a different paint job.

[Samurai75007]

Originally Posted by Thorst13

Finally revealed, but looks like crap! How can anyone do that to a LM????

yep x2

[F1 monster]

Wow. Great detective work.

Amazing how they could screw up such a nice car with such a horrible color scheme. I wonder if those are Brunei flag colors, or just some random scheme. Ugh.

[F1 monster]

Small numbers on the license plates in those countries usually denote royalty or VIPs.

(More confirmation)

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by payso

Another point, the car in the picture has the vent on the left hand side of the car, (I thought only the copy GTR's had this) also, there is only mention of "one" car, the other LM could have a different paint job.

I actually hadn't noticed that, but my take on it is that this illustration was likely produced from an image in reverse. Another clue to this is that the windscreen wiper is reversed. I will ask the artist about this and see if he has a source image he might be willing to share.

He also mentioned that a print of this image would be available. If anyone is interested let me know.

>8^)
ER

[payso]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

I actually hadn't noticed that, but my take on it is that this illustration was likely produced from an image in reverse. Another clue to this is that the windscreen wiper is reversed. I will ask the artist about this and see if he has a source image he might be willing to share.

He also mentioned that a print of this image would be available. If anyone is interested let me know.

>8^)
ER

Yes, I guessed it was reversed when I saw the vent, wiper, and the most obvious to the eye, the Blue Wheel Nuts.

Notice there is nothing holding up the spoiler?
Probably just been missed out!

[jkbon]

I think it's one of the ugliest Mclaren I've ever seen

[andybee]

p.s: just to clarify, I didn't design the livery of these

bye for now

[Jimmyc]

Nice work Sherlock...although I have to agree that those go faster stripes are right up there with furry dice. By the way the background looks like some photos I have seen of the outside of the Sultan's garage in Brunei

[Stratoraptor]

I find it stange that the intake and wiper give the impression of a mirrored image, but the alphanumeric license plate is not reversed. I wonder what it could mean...?

[amanichen]

I'm going to go against the grain by saying I think that the unique color scheme is actually not that bad looking on an F1. It gives the car more character than some of the F1s because it almost looks like a GTR livery. The decals and paint scheme flow with the lines of the car (even the headlight decals) and make it look somewhat more aggressive.

I know most of you would like like the mythical Black LM(s) to be a 01R replica, or be finished in papaya orange or maybe unpainted carbon fiber, but I think it's a nice surprise to see something different. HDF kits, high mirrors, and custom wheels aside, I think this is one of the more interesting looking F1s.

[Peloton25]

Originally Posted by Stratoraptor

I find it stange that the intake and wiper give the impression of a mirrored image, but the alphanumeric license plate is not reversed. I wonder what it could mean...?

I think it means that the artist felt the illustration would be better from this angle, but failed to correct those details that really only people like us would notice. Obviously they wouldn't draw the license plate backwards though.

>8^)
ER

[McLaren F1 Guy]

My God, you've done it! The greatest McLaren F1 puzzle ever - solved!!! I knew it was going to happen one day. How could anyone come up with THAT design!? Seriously, the LM is probably the greatest vehicle ever created by mankind, and it's 2 of them have one of the worst paintjobs I've ever seen. Don't we have sources saying it was painted to replicate the Le Mans winning GTR though? That's such a shame. But we finally know what they look like. Erik, you are the man.