Supercar Stories - McLaren F1

rounding out the Supercar Wars we take a look at the model which brought home Victory by becoming the fastest production car in the world a mantle it would maintain for more than a decade while also making itself the very Pinnacle of road going technology which even today still stands up strongly against even the modern crop of high performance models this car being simply titled the McLaren F1 the McLaren company began in 1963 as Bruce McLaren Motor Racing taking its name from the eponymous Bruce McLaren who was a new zealand-born racing car designer driver engineer and inventor his short life peppered with success as between his racing debut at the 1958 German Grand Prix and his untimely death at Goodwood circuit in June 1970 at the age of 32 he had notched up an impressive four Championship wins starting with the 1959 United States Grand Prix and later going on to secure victory at the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix and the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix as well as winning the 1962 Levant cup the 1962 Reems Grand Prix the 1968 Race of Champions and the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans prior to his death McLaren had formed his own racing team which made its debut at the 1966 Formula One season and after 1970 fell under the management of American Motor Racing entrepreneur Teddy Mayer mayor subsequently leading McLaren to their first world Constructors Championship in 1974 with Brazilian driver Emerson fittipaldi who also won the world drivers Championship that year the McLaren team going on to become one of the most successful in Formula One championship history winning a total of eight World Constructors championships and 12 World drivers championships and have also dominated Can-Am sports car racing with 56 wins and have won three Indy 500 races for 24 Hours of Le mall and 12 hours of Sebring in 1985 following the merger of McLaren with Ron Dennis's project 4 racing team five years earlier the company created a wholly owned subsidiary known as McLaren cars the intention of which was to revive a long dormant proposal for the firm to Branch out into the creation of road legal high-performance cars an idea even considered back in the late 1960s by Bruce McLaren himself who had envisit a road-going version of the group 7 prototype race car the McLaren m6a known as the m6 GT which would have been the fastest production car in the world had Bruce McLaren lived to see the project through to fruition his passing in 1970 leading to the scheme collapsing after three prototypes during the same year in 1987 the company was joined by Gordon Murray a South african-born British designer who had previously worked with the brabham company of Chessington who had their own Formula One racing team during which Murray was able to develop a reputation for an Innovative approach to design applied not only to car Concepts and details but also to race strategy leading to brabham's achieving between 1973 and 1985 22 Grand Prix wins a second place at the Constructors Championship of 1975 and 1981 and the Nelson PK drivers championships of 1981 and 1983 while also designing the radical But ultimately unsuccessful low-line brabham bt-55 Formula One car a model designed to pursue increased downforce without adding excessive drag by lowering the overall ride height although due to the highly ambitious attempt at lying the car's BMW straightforward engine on its side to lower the car's profile the power plant was not suited to working horizontally and thus led to major unreliability as well as a complicated layout as the car required a heavily offset crank together with a specialized gearbox and drivetrain following his departure from brabhams in 1986 Murray joined the ranks of McLaren the following year and immediately made his Mark by designing the McLaren MP4 4 of 1988 the most dominant F1 car in history which won 15 out of 16 races with art and Senna and Alan Prost although aside from his major successes with the McLaren Formula One team Murray also saw that in light of the Supercar Wars currently taking place between the likes of Porsche and Ferrari with upcoming concepts by Bugatti and jaguar also in the works the McLaren business should also expand into the creation of supercars so as to tap this Emerging Market a sentiment shared by company boss Ron Dennis and thus in 1989 Murray was assigned as chief engineer of a brand new Supercar Christen the F1 Murray's philosophy when it came to designing high performance cars was simple low weight and high power this being achieved through the use of high-tech and expensive materials such as carbon fiber titanium gold magnesium and Kevlar the proposed F1 being one of the first production cars to use a carbon fiber monocoque chassis while based on an idea he had considered in his youth Murray awaiting a flight home from the Italian Grand Prix sketched a three-seat sports car which he subsequently presented to Ron Dennis and pitched it as the ultimate Road car a concept that would be heavily influenced by the company's Formula One experience and technology and thus reflect that skill and knowledge through the F1 during this time Murray was able to visit Honda's tajiki Research Center in the company of Art and Center this visit related to the fact that at the time Honda powered McLaren's F1 Grand Prix chassis and while his original concept for the F1 was simply to follow the Porsche Ferrari and Lamborghini mindset of fitting the car with the largest engine available after a test drive with Honda's brand new NSX sports car he quickly saw that taking a leap from the nsx's ride quality and handling would become his new design Target with later visits to the tokichi research center seeing him request that they consider building for the McLaren F1 a 4.5 liter V10 or V12 although this ultimately came to Nord and Murray was forced to make do with a BMW power plant instead using the last two Ultima Mark III kit car chassis numbered 12 and 13 and carrying the names Albert and Edward these vehicles were used as test mules in order to trial various components and Concepts before the first F1 prototypes were built Albert being used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 liter Chevrolet V8 plus various other components such as the seats and the brakes while Edward was tested with a V12 plus the exhausting cooling system the two units subsequently being destroyed following the completion of testing as the McLaren company did not want the upcoming F1 to be mistaken by the press for being merely a kit car unveiled at a special launch ceremony hosted by the sporting club of Monaco on May 28 1992 the original prototype dubbed xp-1 was essentially the first production car The Only Exception being required changes to the wing mirrors which on the Prototype were mounted at the top of the a-pillar while also not presenting front indicator lights although the original Wing mirrors did present a highly Innovative integration of the indicator lights into the structure a now common feature on present-day cars but unheard of for models during the early 1990s the xp-1 regardless of this minor cribble with the car's design being proven to be an incredibly safe machine for a model of its class as while undergoing tests in Namibia during 1993 the car hits a rock and rolled several times but the driver wearing only casual clothes managed to escape the severe instant unscathed a dedicated crash testing mule dubbed xp2 eventually being built later that year and passed with the front wheel Arch untouched without being bounded by conventional thinking Murray pioneered the idea of a three-seat layout which has the driver sitting centrally and sandwiched by two passengers situated slightly behind this seating configuration having the advantage of giving the driver the most accurate view on both sides as well as allowing the driver's seat to be positioned further forward for better visibility meaning the fuel tank could also be moved forward for better balance as well as avoiding the need for offset pedals as the footwell was no longer blocked by the wheel Arch this configuration more importantly allowing for better capacity than either the two-seat or one-seat layouts of other contemporary supercars although it did present one downside in that it was difficult to access the driver's seat that this was partially relieved by using butterfly doors another highly Innovative aspect to the F1 was its use of a full carbon fiber construction which included not only body panels but also the chassis as while carbon fiber had been a common feature on exotic cars since the days of the Ferrari 288 GTO a traditional tubular steel chassis was employed underneath the advanced Bodyworks though with McLaren being the pioneer of using carbon fiber chassis on their own Formula One cars the company once again rewrote the history book on Automotive production with the first carbon fiber monocoque chassis for a road car The Incredible cost of this facet being No Object as the Relentless pursuit of lightness was Paramount for the upcoming machine the carbon fiber chassis complemented by its suspension wishbones being made of solid blocks of aluminum alloy CNC machine to shape so as to offer the required strength at the minimum weight as per the practice used in Formula One racing while its Brembo brakes had lightweight monoblock aluminum calipers which was again a pioneering move for a road car and its 17-inch Wheels were made of magnesium a metal even lighter than aluminum added two further by Murray deciding that a purist car should go without any artificial driver AIDS issuing anti-lock brakes traction control and stability control while for the benefit of weight not even power steering and a brake Servo were offered Murray's exceptional attention to detail went even Beyond The Wider aspects of the car's construction examples including the engine compartment using pure gold foils to insulate from heat saving the need for insulating foam while the tool kit was made of titanium and the driver's seat was assembled using the thinnest carbon fiber item available which though non-adjustable would have a seat and pedal position tailored to each customer by McLaren Murray's intention however not being to Simply provide potential buyers with a glorified race car as per the likes of the Ferrari F40 but instead insisting that the F1 be a practical Road car for regular use by drivers the car featuring a minimum level of Creature Comforts including air conditioning power windows Central locking and a stereo system the latter being specially developed by Kenwood and was the world's lightest audio system with a 10-disc CD changer the results of Murray's craftsmanship being a car that weighs only 1.25 tons half a ton lighter than the Rival Bugatti eb-110 and 0.8 tons lighter than the modern Bugatti Veyron perhaps the most amazing aspect of the F1 though was its compact size as while machines such as the eb-110 the F40 and the Jaguar xj220 were gigantic machines in order to accommodate their large engines and mechanics the McLaren F1 was 25 inches shorter than the xj220 and 8 inches narrower than the Lamborghini Diablo while at the same time pushing the wheels to the Far Corners of the car's structure to give a longer but more stable wheelbase the f1's conservative Dimensions meaning that it was not only far easier to live with for those drivers living in areas with narrow roads such as in the UK but also presented a smaller frontal area that benefited drag and combined with a drag coefficient of 0.32 meaning it was definitely in the running for becoming the world's fastest production car complemented further by active aerodynamics which came in the form of two electric fans inside the tail that sucked air in from the ground towards the tail generating a ground effect like the brabham fam car while under braking the car raising the rear spoiler in order to generate extra downforce at the tail to counter balance the car keeping weight distribution constant and enhancing braking performance most importantly of all was the car's engine as while Honda was unable to provide a bespoke power plant for the McLaren F1 BMW generously stepped in with a 6.1 liter V12 in exchange for publicity creating what was easily the best high performance engine in the world but far outstripped the Ferrari boxer 12 the Lamborghini V12 and the turbocharged engines of Bugatti and jaguar presenting to the car a large capacity naturally aspirated Engine That Could achieve a specific output of 103 horsepower per liter at an overall power output of 627 horsepower the engine being the product of all the latest state-of-the-art Technologies available for the early 1990s such as infinitely variable cam phasing at all four camshafts 11-01 compression nicosil coating dry sump lubrication and an individual electronic throttle for each cylinder complemented by the continued fervent desire for lightness as aluminum heads and block magnesium cam covers an oil pan and carbon fiber air box kept its weight under check and was proportioned nicely to fit within the car's compact dimensions all this being married to a Weissman transverse six-speed manual gearbox and limited step differential the icing on the cake of the McLaren F1 though was its superb styling the car being the product of British designer Peter Stevens who had previously styled the likes of the Jaguar xjr15 the Lotus Elan M100 and the Lotus Esprit x180 and developed a machine that while arguably not as spectacular as some Italian supercars was unquestionably beautiful well proportioned and perfectly executed mixing the purposeful nature of Group C endurance sports cars with a unique style that showed that it wasn't dedicated entirely for the racetrack giving the prospective customer an impression of unbeatable build quality thanks to the tight tolerance of its carbon fiber panels and perfect paintwork or the product of McLaren's extensive wealth of experience in building and painting its Formula One race cars the sense of occasion given by its butterfly doors and roof mounted engine intake which goes straight through a tunnel towards the engine coming together to form a model that is both functional and stylish eventually after continued testing with prototypes XP3 which performed durability testing and was owned personally by Gordon Murray xp4 for gearbox system stress testing and xp5 the publicity car the McLaren F1 entered sales in 1993 at a cost of 815 000 or 1.6 million dollars in 2022 the model with its exceptional 627 horsepower BMW engine being propelled into the pages of history when it attained a top speed of 231 miles an hour at the Nardo test track exceeding its nearest Rivals by nearly 20 miles an hour and thus making the biggest leap in Supercar top speeds to that point only for this record to be surpassed later in April 1998 when McLaren took the F1 to Volkswagen's air release in test track and with its 7500 RPM rev limiter disabled recorded a two-way average of 240.1 miles an hour a top speed that exceeded dedicated Formula One cars at the time not to 60 coming in a mere 3.2 seconds and 200 miles an hour reached in only 20 seconds upon its release the F1 was lauded by motoring critics and the public alike enamored by the fact that unlike the comparative Bugatti eb-110 the car made no use of advanced launch control dual clutch transmission modern tires or a four-wheel drive system in order to reach its record-breaking top speed being simply the product of an excellent power to weight ratio low drag and a good weight distribution although problems with the handling were noted as with a power to weight ratio of 550 horsepower per tonne the car was not the easiest to drive noted in the fact that two of the four prototypes crashed during development which was a testament to its Untamed character Murray's desire to create the most raw Driving Experience for customers without the need for artificial complexity through driver AIDS meaning that in light of the car's massive power the F1 was relatively weak when it came to the sturdiness of the chassis preferring instead the more stable handling Ferrari F50 due to its comparative short-footedness understeer and rolling being quite a common complaint among inexperienced owners while other issues were due to the lack of power steering which meant that regular driving was difficult and the braking being largely non-responsive due to the removal of the brake Servo the four pot Brembo calipers and cross-drilled ventilated discs measuring 332 millimeters front and 305 millimeters rear leading to Rapid brake fade nevertheless despite the car being definitely one for advanced drivers which cut out many of the new muddy customers who simply wanted a bit of Flash the F1 remained the Pinnacle of automotive technology during the mid-1990s and into the New Millennium proving that the Supercar formula could present practicality not too dissimilar to Grand tourers thanks to its unique three-seat configuration in modest Dimensions while at the same time giving rise to a versatile platform that would form the basis of several derivatives including the GTR race car which comprises three generations for the GTR 95 GTR 96 and GTR 97 and resulted in production numbers of 9 9 and 10 cars for each respective model these super herb machines going on to dominate World GT championships in 1995 and 1996 and was the only Road car based machine that has won them on in modern times the most powerful F1 of all was the LM or Limon basically a street version of the GTR 95 race car which won the international GT championship and Le Mans in 1995. this car comprising the removal of the air restrictor and therefore enabled the BMW V12 engine to Output 680 horsepower instead of the gtr's 600 horsepower or the standard car's 627 horsepower as well as adopting a plethora of weight-saving measures such as the deletion of equipment the use of lighter trimming and the removal of the fan assisted ground effect and automatic rear spoiler is instead being replaced by a simple and effective big rear wing which increased downforce but at the cost of top speed McLaren stating that the car would barely reach 225 miles an hour although acceleration was unbeaten for any model of its Class attaining A naught to 100 mile an hour time of only 11.5 seconds finally there was the F1 GT which was the last road-going variant of the model to be produced this car likely differing the mechanics of the standard F1 but including a modified Bodywork that extended the tail and lengthened the nose to increase downforce but without adding drag the GT being approximately 120 millimeters longer than the standard F1 and was accompanied by widened tracks and skirts to give more of a race car profile thus improving cornering balance in a manner similar to the 97 GTR sadly despite the f1's incredible achievements the car was not a commercial success the market for exotic sports model still reeling in the wake of the 1992 global economic recession and thereby meant that the 600 000 pound McLaren F1 like the Bugatti eb-110 and the Jaguar xj220 would fall victim to the collapse of Ultra Luxury Car Sales the original production plan of 300 cars shrinking rapidly to only 106 by the time the project ended in May 1998. this ambitious Supercar being a major Financial loss for the McLaren cars division although fundamentally the creation of the F1 proved the competency of the McLaren company to marry mechanical Brilliance with an incredibly lightweight design garnering the interest of Mercedes-Benz who began a collaboration with the firm between 2003 and 2009 in the form of the SLR McLaren a 207 mile an hour Grand tourer which was among the finest performance cars ever produced and would prove to be a huge success for both Mercedes-Benz and McLaren during its six-year production run the recognition garnered through the tire between McLaren and Mercedes-Benz with the SLR was enough to encourage the firm to restart production of their own road-going performance cars which after four years of development led to their first new road legal model being released in 2011 as the McLaren 12C which took many of its underpinnings from a Ferrari 360 test mule and was powered by a longitudinally mounted McLaren m838t 3.8 liter twin turbocharged V8 the car taking its place on the Supercar Market against the likes of the Ferrari 458 and the Lamborghini Gallardo selling 3 400 units by the time production ended in 2014. since then the McLaren company has established its own range of sports cars which straddled the marketplace for Ultra Luxury road-going machines starting with the low-end McLaren artura and rising up to the McLaren GT the McLaren 720s the McLaren Senna the McLaren Alpha limited production mid-engine's open top sports car and the range-topping McLaren speedtail which sits atop what is dubbed the McLaren ultimate series of high performance cars and continues the legacy of the pioneering F1 as the machine that introduced a new breed of Supercar that rapidly upturned the status quo of established Supercar manufacturers and has now placed this once important Mark in the world of Formula One racing squarely onto the driveways of the world super rich in the end while the McLaren F1 was not the commercial success desired by its parent firm and would eventually lose its title of world's fastest production car with the 2005 launch of the 253 mile an hour Bugatti Veyron the impact this simple machine had was more than profound as not only did it illustrate the biggest leap in automotive technology in decades but also proved to be the very Pinnacle of mechanics styling and lightweight composite materials that went above and beyond what would normally be expected for a road-going production car its incredible Ambitions from conception to completion being ultimately fulfilled while cars such as the preceding xj220 and Ferrari F40 had to sacrifice many of their assets so as to reach their goal the McLaren F1 now being a sought after Classic that often sells for double if not triple its original asking price truly a testament to this machine's incredible place in Automotive History

Channel: Ruairidh MacVeigh

Views: 15,970

Keywords: car, cars, automobile, auto, bus, truck, motor, motor vehicle, saloon, estate, compact, sports, roadster, transport, road, heritage, historic, McLaren, McLaren F1, F1, Formula One, Bruce McLaren, Grand Prix, UK, United Kingdom, Great Britain, British, Bugatti EB110, Jaguar XJ220, XJ220, Jaguar, F1 GTR, F1 GTR 1996, F1 GTR 1997, F1 GTR 1995, McLaren F1 GTR, McLaren F1 LM, F1 HDK, F1 GT, Gordon Murray, McLaren Artura, McLaren GT, McLaren 720S, McLaren Senna, McLaren Elva, McLaren Speedtail

Id: hUaZ0taADrw

Length: 21min 13sec (1273 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 22 2022