More than 20 - perhaps as many as 25 in total. Seems to have just occurred in the past few days. It was an F1 owner's preview of the new MP4-12C. >8^) ER
One can and does most certainly hope that. I've been able to identify with some certainty nearly all the cars, except for a few of the troublesome orange GTRs which will need closer images to spot the differences. Also there's some question on the chassis number of two of the cars that are there and exactly which car is which with the only obvious possibilities for them being #14R and #04R rebuilt to 1996 GTR specs. >8^) ER
How many F1s were made to look like an LM? I can see 4 in those pics. I assume at least 1 is the factory LM car.
My favorite because it was the first McLaren F1 I ever saw in the flesh. It was in a 'Racing Legends' display on the lower level of the Javits Center at the NY International Auto Show - circa 1997 - I forget the other cars on display at the time; when I get back to NYC I'll see if I can find the pics. Happy they haven't changed the livery since.
Nice photo Gilles. That would be great! I think this is the only photo I have seen from its display there, but I could be wrong. Tell me if this looks familiar? >8^) ER EDIT: Actually I'm sure I am wrong as there's an image on the wall above the rear wing showing a Jaguar F1 car, and those didn't appear until 2000. Now I'll be wondering where this image came from. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Does this look more like the display instead? It's another image that is 1-of-1 in my collection and far too small to enjoy obviously. Also the original filename is 'mclarenny.jpg' - small clue there. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry - missed that question earlier. There are currently 5 F1 GTRs that have been resprayed in Papaya Orange giving them the look of an F1 LM. One of these cars is in Northern Italy at last report, another is in Bahrain and the remaining three are all in the UK. An owner who was at the event was kind enough to confirm what a few of us suspected, and that was that only one of the four orange LM-looking ones that was there was actually an LM and the rest were GTRs. The one LM in attendance would have been the prototype - XP1 LM. The production LMs are in the USA (LM3), Japan (LM2) and Brunei (LM1, LM4 and LM5). The first pair in the trio residing in Brunei were not painted orange. I made this combo photo below a while back showing all the Orange GTRs with one of the LMs. I did have to revise it recently when it was discovered that the assumed chassis number for the one on the bottom in the middle was not accurate. We are still not certain exactly which car it is, but it is now definitely not #15R which was my previous guess. In fact #04R may be the stronger of the two possibilities listed, but for now I'll leave it like it is. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
Is LM3 still owned by Ralph Lauren? LM2 still at the ZAZ Museum in Japan? Ohhh the 2 Black LMs...if more real pictures broke of those or it they were sold and were more public, that would be the greatest story on the car forums over the internet.
Yes, Yes ...and oh god YES. Actually Black LM content only seems to impress those of us who are extremely passionate about the F1s. Most people don't have a clue about them at all and when they see an image of one they don't say the kindest things about them, which even I will admit is certainly understandable. >8^) ER
You got that right. It would truly make my year to see even just one more newer pictures of those Black LMs
I came into this thread, ultimately knowing just very basic information on the McLaren F1. Thanks to the wealth of knowledge shared by Erik and some of the other McLaren maniacs on this forum, I think it's safe to say I know more on the McLaren's than I could've imagined knowing. For what it's worth, there is a car showing going on today in Norwood, Mass at Ferrari of New England that will have a silver McLaren F1 - chassis number #068 to be exact.
I'm certainly glad to hear you've enjoyed it. I got that tip earlier on the F1 at FoNE and may have directed just a couple of people to make their own plans to attend. Hope you all have a great time! Here's a new image I found this morning of #023 in South Africa. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
@ Peloton25: I've one question below this McLaren F1 with HdF, I think it's #059: Why does this car have these lights? I haven't seen them on any other McLaren F1... Pictures of this car are on page 36 in this thread during the gathering at the factory Thank you for answering in advance
I can't say why it has the lights beyond the fact that this must have been related to an owner's request for personalization. This is a subject that has come up a few times, even once recently so I'll be repeating what I've written before for everyone's benefit. = = = = = It's the only F1 I've ever seen with them fitted, but it is believed the car has had them since new. I have early photos of it taken in Monaco showing them on the car even before the High Downforce Kit was fitted to it. It isn't just the lights inside the lens that are different, the entire section of glass is smaller with the trim panel above being larger to compensate. See the two sets of reference shots below for comparison of this car to two different standard F1s from similar angles. So that it is not too confusing, the two standard cars have different headlamps as well - the first road car with normal bodywork (#065) has the original incandescent headlamps fitted to all F1s, and the second one (#023) also wears a version of the High Downforce Kit and in addition has been upgraded with a fairly common HID option from McLaren that is now seen on many F1s. The headlights on the unique F1 believed to be #059 are also HIDs, but the projector is positioned in the outboard spot with that rectangular lamp functioning as the high beam (same orientation as the regular F1s) whereas the more common HID upgrade moves the low beam to the inner lamp position and uses the larger round lens in the outboard spot for the high beams. = = = = = Perhaps this was the earliest integration of HIDs on an F1, and the parts they sourced dictated the change to the lens cover? Then later they may have discovered an alternative method for fitting them that was more cost efficient and required less alteration? The owner may also have felt the F1 would look better with the squinty eyes, and that might have determined the other changes. It could really go either way, so I am just speculating here. Incidentally, I have always suspected this unique headlight car may have very close ownership ties to the factory as it appeared in an 2001 issue of McLaren's own RacingLine magazine in a comparison with the original M6 GT road car. Could be wrong on that, but we'll probably figure it out eventually. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Erik, In you're post above (745) behind the car in the second photo is a large scale model of an F1 with a rear wing. Do you know the origins of this? is it a scale windtunnel model or more? Thanks
I think the lights found on #059 look far better than the standard lights seen on the other cars. Much more of a sportier, aggressive look to them.
You have a very good eye. Unfortunately I don't believe I have a single great photo of this model which is a shame because it looks to be a very nice piece. Perhaps the lack of images relates to the fact that when you have one or more of the real thing within arms reach, the scale model just doesn't seem all that appealing? I believe it to be about 1/5th scale, and it's a recreation of the 1995 LeMans winner. I have no idea who commissioned it or if there are any others, but the one at the factory is the only one I have ever seen exactly like this one. I doubt it was a wind tunnel model since it has proper paint and sponsor decals, but it could have started out life as that I guess. The first images I have of it were taken almost a decade ago so it was created long before the 1/8th scale version offered now by Amalgam Models and seen here in one of Morry's posts. Here are what I think are the best images I have of it. I'll poke around this organized mess of mine to see if I find any others that didn't immediately spring to mind and share any that I find. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
a few more random pic's of some F1's in these 2 threads: http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/04/28/retrospective-gt-gt-amg-mercedes-clk-clr-black-sheep.aspx http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/04/29/retrospective-gt-gt-amg-mercedes-clk-clr-black-sheep-2.aspx
