Books on the Mclaren - Which ones to get and why

Congratulations sir!!

I'm holding off on getting one of them for the bookshelf since it will obviously come with the car I intend to buy. ;)

>8^)
ER

All Right Greg!! :smokin:

How do you like it?

I haven't really had the chance yet to have a good flick through, but initial impressions are WOW.

I think that nearly completes my book collection; I don't have a Limited Edition of Driving Ambition nor the GT book [but I think I have digital scans somewhere of that] and have had both soft and hard cover versions of the Monaco Launch book, however the #/59 Le Mans Limited Edition of Driving Ambition beats the #/1000 Limited Edition DA, and having spoken to someone who has both he didn't know why he bought both as the Le Mans edition is everything the Limited Edition is and more


Ueno Clinic, by M Hasui
The Story of the Supercar from Miura to Mclaren by CAR magazine
Passion for Speed by Nick Mason
Into The Red - Edn 1 by Nick Mason
Into The Red - Edn 2 by Nick Mason
Blue & Orange - The History of GULF in Motorsport by Michael Cotton
Velocity Supercar Revolution by John Lamm
1996 BPR Global GT Series results by Hepheastus Books
George Harrison Living In the Material World by Olivia Harrison
Driving Ambition - signed by Gordon Murray on Skeletal Print- by Doug Nye
Driving Ambition (Reference copy) by Doug Nye
Driving Ambition - signed by Gordon Murray, Doug Nye, Creighton Brown - by Doug Nye
Driving Ambition - Le Mans Edition #35/59 by Doug Nye
Mclaren - The Wins by David Tremayne
Mclaren The Cars 1964-2008 by William Taylor [unsigned]
Mclaren The Cars 1964-2008 (signed 718/1000) by William Taylor
Mclaren F1 GTR LM Sportcars Performance Portfolio by Brooklands Books
GT Endurance 1995 by Teissedre & Cotton
GT Endurance 1996 by Teissedre & Cotton
GT Endurance 1997 - (Parabolica cover) by Teissedre & Cotton
GT international by Cole Hurel Tons
Le Mans 1995
Le Mans 1996
Le Mans 1997
Le Mans 1998
Frozenspeed 2009 Yearbook
GTR- WEST cover Michael Cotton
Owners Manual

I'm selling off my copy.....

Raven59 - Ueno Clinic, by M Hasui
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photobook-McLaren-F1-059-1995-Le-Mans-24h-winner-Raven59-/120859502709)

Was sorry to see you selling that, but at a final bid price of :yikes: $500 :yikes: I am guessing you aren't going to miss it that much! :grinno:

Amazing! :bigthumb:

BTW: I have never been so happy to lose an auction in my whole life. ;)

>8^)
ER

Yeah, I Can only agree. I know he collects, but I did not expect Greg to want to pay so much for a second copy ;-)

LOL! :grinyes:

BTW Greg - on your list you have 'Mclaren The Cars 1964-2008' listed twice, once with credit to McLaren instead of William Taylor.

>8^)
ER

Greg, your list is absolutely amazing !

Yeah, I Can only agree. I know he collects, but I did not expect Greg to want to pay so much for a second copy ;-)
This one was out of my price range too ;) but its good to know its worth. BTW I only have 1 of these M Hasui books left, Le Man has been gifted the other :)
LOL! :grinyes:

BTW Greg - on your list you have 'Mclaren The Cars 1964-2008' listed twice, once with credit to McLaren instead of William Taylor.

>8^)
ER
One is a limited edition signed version, the other just the normal version off Amazon :) but I have changed it now :)
Greg, your list is absolutely amazing !
Cheers Phil :) I just need somewhere to show them off; having a bookcase with 2 young children means my book space has to fight with Peppa Pig Annuals and Transformers Books, so.....

One is a limited edition signed version, the other just the normal version off Amazon :) but I have changed it now :)

Ahhh - didn't expect you would have two copies. :cool:

....on second thought - I should have known! :lol2:

>8^)
ER

Anyone have a softcover launch brochure for sale?

PM me.

There's one going for a crazy price on eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mclaren-F1-GTR-Road-Car-Brochure-1992-/160745744498?pt=UK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litte rature_ET&hash=item256d316872)

Expect to pay around £200-£250; more for the hardback :)

Good luck :)

Crazy for sure, must be someone who has no idea what they are bidding on, sort of a fluke I guess.

If anyone wants to sell me one for the usual money send me a PM.

Just listed (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mclaren-F1-GTR-Road-Car-Brochure-1992-/160748342114?pt=UK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litte rature_ET&hash=item256d590b62)

I bought last week, and it amazingly got delivered today, the JGTC 10 years 1994-2003 book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B006B2PA3I/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&condition=all) from Japan. It has some pictures of the GTRs, nothing really new [that i've found yet] and it is all in Japanese but its a worthy addition to my F1 library :)

If anyone's interested I've just listed a couple of books on Ebay:

McLaren GTR book (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200724129571?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_485wt_1187)

Ueno Clinic Number 59 book (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200724141429?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_485wt_1187)

Another DA Limited Edition (#229/1000) for sale, but on Yahoo JP Auctions (http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w69459045).
Starting price (not sure, but possibly also the BIN price) of $1000+.

Edit: just noticed there's another one (#252) (http://page19.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x192430143), but going for $2500+.

Copy #252 has been on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/260968963059) for quite a while now with a slowly declining asking price of $1,111.10. The price isn't bad but when you tack on the extra $125 for shipping from Japan it gets expensive.

If you want to get really crazy though, you can buy this retail copy (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150755661678) signed by Gordon Murray for £950. :yikes:

>8^)
ER

Those limited editions are beautiful. I hope to get one someday. Do they come up for sale often? Secondly, when I am shopping for one, what would be a reasonable price to pay for one that is in good-excellent condition? Lastly, can someone outline the extra features these limited books have over the normal prints? I love that they have their own chassis # plate like the real cars. That's a really cool touch. Are the limited #/1000 prints the rarest version of Driving Ambition, or is there an even rarer copy?

The price is not that bad, the book retailed for 575 GBP and shipping was 75 GBP from McLaren who used FedEx. Back in 2006-2008 that would convert to $1300 US. Of course the 650 GBP converts to less now, but at $1,111 plus shipping it's close to the same.

Lastly, can someone outline the extra features these limited books have over the normal prints? I love that they have their own chassis # plate like the real cars. That's a really cool touch. Are the limited #/1000 prints the rarest version of Driving Ambition, or is there an even rarer copy?

They printed a total of 1,000 copies of the enhanced version of Driving Ambition. Of those, the first 100 were considered 'Owner's Editions' and were bound in Connolloy leather - the same material used in the cars. The remaining 900 were originally classed as the 'Limited Edition' version and those copies are bound in Nubuck leather. Feature-wise and content-wise I believe they were both identical beyond the cover material.

There's quite a bit that's different about them from the normal versions though. In page count alone the Limited versions have 408 compared to the retail copy's 272. Many of these extra pages were reserved for more wonderful images. Some of the pages are transparent overlays displaying a sketch that was used to create certain parts of the car, with a photo of the part underneath. There's additional text as well in most of the chapters including a more thorough accounting of the F1 GTR's racing history.

They used high quality art paper and inks for each page which shimmer compared to the standard version. These special books come in a foam lined box with a small 'McLaren' badge on the outside and white gloves inside to keep fingerprints off the pages. Each book is numbered inside with a plate very similar to the chassis plate found inside each F1 and features the McLaren Track Record plate that is affixed to the battery and fuse panel cover inside the left luggage locker. The book is also hand-signed by the four founding directors of McLaren Cars who were responsible for the car's creation. You get the same poster of #075 with the enhanced copies that you do with the retail versions complete with chassis history on the reverse, but you also receive a separate print of the cutaway drawing of the F1, and a full scale blueprint of some part from the car. My copy includes an engineering drawing of the F1's unique transmission.

In 2005 they re-purposed 59 of the remaining copies of the Limited Version and created the 'Le Mans Edition. Included with these is a director's cut of the film "McLaren's at Le Mans" on DVD, a numbered print of the Le Mans winning GTR signed by Ron Dennis, a 10 Year anniversary lapel pin, and a special plate that numbers them 1 out of 59. These still include the chassis plate showing which number in the series of 1,000 they were. These copies were £825 when released.

I really wish I hadn't waited so long to get myself one. Over the years I have only seen a few copies come around and for less than $1,200 I think it is a good investment.

>8^)
ER

Thanks Erik, I didn't know LM editions were included in the 1000 copies.

You say, the 100 first editions were for owners. Do they share the same chassis number ? There were 64 road cars so, who could buy at this time this edition ?

Yes - the 59 copies have a dual numbering - Greg's copy, for example, is #35 of 59 but also has #475 on the chassis plate which would be its number out of 1,000. (Photos) (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=5992857&postcount=48)

It's been a while but I believe the intention was to offer those copies within the first 100 to owners with those specific chassis numbers. Not sure what the disposition was for the other 33 that wouldn't correspond directly with an F1 chassis number? I imagine there were some that were not spoken for as early on there was the option of purchasing an Owner's Edition direct through McLaren.

>8^)
ER

If anyone wants a Le Mans edition of Driving Ambition #38/59 [now sold out at the factory] Morry at collectorstudio.com has one for sale, at 3 x list, equating to £2250 / $3495 / €2675 plus postage [it weighs 11lbs, so expect postage to be hefty]

If anyone wants a Le Mans edition of Driving Ambition #38/59 [now sold out at the factory] Morry at collectorstudio.com has one for sale, at 3 x list, equating to £2250 / $3495 / €2675 plus postage [it weighs 11lbs, so expect postage to be hefty]

It is sold already. :runaround:

>8^)
ER


P.S.: I didn't buy it.

It is sold already. :runaround:

>8^)
ER


P.S.: I didn't buy it.

PPS - nor did I

However, seeing it sell for 3 x list makes me feel a little smug :icon16:

Rightfully so - and you got the factory experience along with your purchase.

Although I suspect the buyer on this one has already had the 'factory experience'. ;)

>8^)
ER

How do we know it sold for that price??

Morry told me. :)

>8^)
ER

I got an email from Collectorstudio.com today saying that that book had become available and was very shocked at the price... finding out now that it had already sold suprises me even further... it makes me wonder what my "normal" limited edition "driving ambition" worth...?

I contacted Morry (a while back) about his copy of the F1 Owners Manual he has for sale but unfortunatly it was a bit out of my price range... i sure would like to get a look inside of it one day though :(

To be clear (and I could just be a small misunderstanding on what you wrote) the LM DA had not been sold when the email was sent, but like Morry wrote - it was not going to last long, and certainly didn't.

He and I exchanged a couple of emails about it in the days leading up to today but I didn't know what his asking price was going to be until I received the same note you did. It is nice to see some people are willing to pay quite a bit extra for the quality and rarity of this book. It always amazes me that the retail copies trade for 5-6 times their original values and the Limited copies don't seem to have appreciated in value based on recent selling prices.

To the right customer a Limited version of Driving Ambition might be worth a lot. That said, there is one copy that has been on Ebay repeatedly for several months with a gradually reducing price now at $1,111.10 plus shipping from Japan which puts the total closer to $1,300 for a US buyer. It's all about getting the right customer's eyes on your product of course.

Morry benefits tremendously from having a client list full of automotive collectors, many with fairly deep pockets and a strong interest in the often unique items he manages to get his hands on. Some percentage of these individuals wouldn't look to Ebay for an item like this but do trust doing business with Collector Studio. It should perhaps be noted there was more than one interested party at his price too.

>8^)
ER

There are 2 standard copies on Ebay UK at the moment one still in a sealed wrapper the other supposedly new but without it's dust jacket.

also for sale on Ebay.co.uk a Michael Cotton GTR book

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/McLaren-F1-GTR-Michael-Cotton-/200724129571?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item2ebc172723

(I still have one, thanks Greg :) )

Same seller has listed the M Hasui "Raven 59" book as well - maybe a second chance to snag one for somebody here?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200724141429

>8^)
ER

also for sale on Ebay.co.uk a Michael Cotton GTR book

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/McLaren-F1-GTR-Michael-Cotton-/200724129571?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item2ebc172723

(I still have one, thanks Greg :) )

Same seller has listed the M Hasui "Raven 59" book as well - maybe a second chance to snag one for somebody here?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200724141429

>8^)
ER

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=6964792&postcount=255

;)

Strange that - I don't miss too many posts here.

>8^)
ER

Is this a brand new reprinted edition of Driving Ambition and if so is it the exact same as the original copies? Or is it a NOS copy? $119 + $25 shipping for a brand new book seems like a bargain compared to the prices for used regular copies on eBay.

https://www.mclarenshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10551_-1_70662_VMM190

Wow! Honestly great find! I've been trying to get one for a long time and I can finally have my own for a good price! Thanks

Until someone buys one and takes delivery I don't know. I am sure it is the complete 272 pages but as far as what print run it comes from - no clue. I don't think Virgin Books have done another print run or we'd see these being offered from many different book suppliers. All I can think is that maybe McLaren had some additional supply in a warehouse and have decided to sell them now. At the prices they seem to command on Ebay these days I was tempted to buy 5 and resell them for 100% profit. :D

>8^)
ER

Until someone buys one and takes delivery I don't know. I am sure it is the complete 272 pages but as far as what print run it comes from - no clue. I don't think Virgin Books have done another print run or we'd see these being offered from many different book suppliers. All I can think is that maybe McLaren had some additional supply in a warehouse and have decided to sell them now. At the prices they seem to command on Ebay these days I was tempted to buy 5 and resell them for 100% profit. :D

>8^)
ER

:iceslolan I was thinking the exact same thing myself. That price is just too good to pass up.

Does anyone have the two books, "McLaren - The Wins Book" and "McLaren - The Cars (2nd ed.)"? How are they? I am thinking of getting them along with Driving Ambition from the McLaren Store. I hope they do combined shipping.

I have the boxed set of the pair - they are both great but keep in mind that the McLaren F1 related coverage inside is limited as the books cover the entire history of McLaren and all the other things they have done.

>8^)
ER

I have the boxed set of the pair - they are both great but keep in mind that the McLaren F1 related coverage inside is limited as the books cover the entire history of McLaren and all the other things they have done.

>8^)
ER

Thanks. That's no problem at all because I was hoping the books would cover the whole history of McLaren because I find it all very interesting. One more question though. For the Cars edition, does it have good in depth pictures and descriptions of the cars? (schematics, tid bits of info about certain unique parts etc.?)

EDIT: Where did you get the boxed set, they don;t have it on their e-store?

The pictures in 'The Cars' are great but I don't recall a lot of schematics.

I got the boxed set direct from the publisher - Coterie Press.

http://www.coteriepress.com/Browse-by-Subject/McLaren

Originally they weren't going to ship the boxed set individually but I volunteered to be the guinea pig and my copy arrived in flawless condition. Interestingly too, the boxed set is cheaper than buying the two books separately through McLarenShop.com.

If you decide to pull the trigger feel free to mention my name when you email them for your order as you'll probably need to pay a bit extra for shipping to Canada. Jo Taylor will take great care of you. :)

>8^)
ER

The pictures in 'The Cars' are great but I don't recall a lot of schematics.

I got the boxed set direct from the publisher - Coterie Press.

http://www.coteriepress.com/Browse-by-Subject/McLaren

Originally they weren't going to ship the boxed set individually but I volunteered to be the guinea pig and my copy arrived in flawless condition. Interestingly too, the boxed set is cheaper than buying the two books separately through McLarenShop.com.

If you decide to pull the trigger feel free to mention my name when you email them for your order as you'll probably need to pay a bit extra for shipping to Canada. Jo Taylor will take great care of you. :)

>8^)
ER


Thank you :). I will be sure to do that if I order the books.

I looked at the publisher's website and they show pictures of the pages and they look excellent.

Until someone buys one and takes delivery I don't know.
OK, I've tried it and orderd 2 books.
I'll let you know when they arrive (and brings my DA collection to 4).
Remembering the last year words from one the GT3 members they don't have many of these books left, I think these were one of the lasts.

I have ordered one, works out around half the price of any semi-decent copy I can find second hand, so I will be happy regardless if its a reprint or not!

I wouldn't be concerned if it is a reprint either - no one seems to distinguish that with the copies you see online anyway. Plus they fixed at least one mistake in the book when they reprinted it.

This photo with caption appears on page 261. The silver car shown here is #001, not #002, and the caption was corrected in the first reprint back in 2000.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_firstandlast_Lcaption.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/firstandlast_Lcaption.jpg)

>8^)
ER

Will be cool if we end up with an original copy, that will be the first page I look at when it arrives :)

This photo with caption appears on page 261. The silver car shown here is #001, not #002, and the caption was corrected in the first reprint back in 2000.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_firstandlast_Lcaption.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/firstandlast_Lcaption.jpg)

>8^)
ER

Is it just me or is it still incorrect. It says 'almost the first', when according to the timeline you made Eric it was THE first one, and the only production car in 1993. So the words are incorrect?

I think the logic would be that XP1 was the first. That photo above is from the original printing showing the error. #002 was indeed the first production car, but regardless #001 is shown in that photo.

The updated caption just changes the chassis number - still reading "...almost the first..." which then becomes more correct based on your discount of the prototypes.

>8^)
ER

But it also says 'early production car '002"', so I'm not sure it is correct...

Never mind, makes sense to me now. Ignore last post....

EDIT: Where did you get the boxed set, they don;t have it on their e-store?

I found the boxed set from a seller on Ebay but he never got back to me so i ordered from the Mclaren E-store... I figured that Mclaren would send the 2-book set but i got two seperate parcels. It was indeed pricier than ordering the 2-book set also :screwy: oh well...

Guess what the mailman brought in!

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5946/photogauow.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/photogauow.jpg/)

Nice job Nicolas ;) I will pick up two.

For all of you wondering, it's the 2000 reprint version. The poster is also included (which was to be expected).

Well done, for the post office here; I also received my books today.
Unfortunatly I didn't get the black dust covers, in which they 're deliverd 1,5 year ago.
They're wrapped in plastic only, like Nicolas' books.

Not quite in the same vein as books, but I found some eBay auctions whereby someone has scanned a range of motoring magazines using OCR & PDF, going back to the first issue & up to 30 years back (EVO, Performance Car, Fast Lane + others).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180844759324?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT


Seems like a great way to search + read/compare all those McLaren related articles on my laptop or iPad without searching through hundreds of magazines.

While I applaud what they have done it seems like there should be some legal issues associated with reproducing EVO's content like that in mass form and then reselling it. Plus if there is no DRM, what keeps the buyer from simply copying them and reselling it themselves? :confused:

>8^)
ER

Yep, I can't imagine how long it would have taken to do this or how expensive (assuming a commercial scanning outfit was used).

As for the legal implications, you are probably right about that too, although I am curious about where things would stand for Performance Car & Fast Lane. But an interesting concept nonetheless & one way to do away with loads of stored magazines & yet still search, find & compare notes on any particular car.

As for buying & reselling, I cannot see any details which would prevent this. I could only imagine that the files must be locked in one way or another.

In any case I wonder if this is an omen for paper based magazines as we know it, esp. car mags? If so, I must see if my current car mag subscriptions have emag options as well or in addition to the paper mag in the mail each month. If so, I might upgrade & avoid the 2-4 week delivery delays.

In the interim, I will be watching these auctions closely.

Owners Manual on ebay for anyone interested.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-MCLAREN-BMW-F1-ROAD-CAR-OWNERS-MANUAL-HANDBOOK-ULTRA-RARE-BRAND-NEW?item=200729845130&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3D LVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7238188836175060204#ht_197 2wt_1095