There are at least 4 companies in the business that have performed the EPA work on McLaren F1s in order to satisfy the 'Show or Display' exemption. >8^) ER
I do appreciate all of your input and thanks for pointing me in the right direction when I pm'ed you. Thank you very much for being an excellent contributor to the community. When I get a chance I'm buying a round of beers .
In more than a decade of attention, only one car of the 106 produced has failed to surface with any amount of certainty and that would be chassis #004 - a Grand Prix Red road car. One possibility is that it may have been one that originally joined the collection of the Brunei Royal Family - there has been some discrepancy whether they purchased a total of 9 or 10 cars. The theory of chassis #004 being one of theirs has never been officially confirmed, however, and part of the skepticism is because it didn't appear on the list of cars from Garage #5 in Brunei that was released in 2006, whereas all the other F1s they purchased did. We do know one car was written off in Brunei by a mechanic and reported to have been dismantled for spares, but I still can't be certain it was that particular one. Nine F1s were on the list and one of those cars has definitely escaped and has been in the USA since 2003. In late 2009 someone gained access to the collection in Brunei and spotted 7 of the 8 F1s that should have still been there - chassis #005 was absent, leaving open the possibility that it could have been the car written off or perhaps it was simply being stored elsewhere at that time. Of course it has been a while since anyone seems to have been able to observe those cars, but I doubt seriously anything has changed with what is there. I don't consider those 7 to be missing - rather more like captives. Another car that has fallen off the radar is chassis #039 which was spotted in Mexico a little over a decade ago, still wearing its original Brazilian Brown paint and fitted with a set of standard wheels that had been painted gold. There was a wild story connected to this one that the car had been purchased by a drug lord, that he had been murdered, that the keys had been lost and it was pushed into a barn under a tarp. Rumor has it the car is still there somewhere - possibly a future barn find. McLaren have also lost touch with it as far as I am aware. If you have seen it, please let me know. That's really it for mysteries. >8^) ER
Assume you mean chassis 028? Yes, we've been close on more than one occasion. Image Unavailable, Please Login ...someone foolishly gave me the keys once too. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login It's in the hands of a new owner in the UK now through a well publicized deal done with the help of DK Engineering. There's also a red F1 in Singapore with black interior that has been there quite a long time and makes occasional appearances in the McLaren Automotive showroom. That one is chassis 021: Image Unavailable, Please Login Finally there is chassis 042 which while originally silver was repainted in Ferrari's "Rosso Corsa" by a previous owner back in 2005, and also had the interior retrimmed in red to match. Unless there has been a fairly recent change, this one also resides in the Bay Area, but with a very private collector. Image Unavailable, Please Login Still no chassis 004... >8^) ER
Damn. I like reading these car stories great stuff Erik! I too enjoy following these cars around and how they change owners. I remember seeing photos of the ex-Brunei's family yellow F1 that showed up at Monterey auction years ago.
The orange one from Bahrain Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
3 in Barhain? I know of that silver/grey one from that amazing collection that we have all seen. Does he also own the orange GTR? What is the 3rd one?
There is a silver F1 with its original owner in Bahrain. The one in the "amazing collection" is actually metallic black. >8^) ER
Correct Silver, Black and Orange are in Bahrain. Here's the orange one in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R_JadM6hOM
That's absolutely right! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
One of the few photos of the Silver car in Bahrain - correctly noted above as chassis 057. Not really possible to tell here, but the interior of this car is Green. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
Which info do we have until now from the Mexican car (#039)? Aprox. location? City? Date of the last seen? Something? It will be an amazing barn find!
I think I would pass on the invitation in the current environment down there. Especially considering the rumors that surround the former owner. >8^) ER
Does anyone have any info on this F1? This was spotted here in El Paso, Texas. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Chassis #036...my favorite road model F1. I remember when it was for sale out of Taylor and Crawley many years ago at such a bargain... That owner thankfully takes it out to a number of car shows.
Don't know about any current owners, but here's a pick of a few before their owners collected them from McLaren Cars back in'95. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That photo was taken at the unveiling party for the first McLaren F1 GTR. Almost all those F1s in the photo would have been delivered to their owners at that point. >8^) ER