Mark: we will forgive you for that. :)
Mark you lost me at FF haha BP23 will do very well IMO, don't think for a moment McLaren don't know what they're doing, in a very short time they are already challenging the best of the best
The F1 was Murray's baby. It was entirely his concept. There wouldn't have been an F1 without him. It was light years ahead of its time. Of course, no designer works on a car alone, he has a team. Was the suspension specialist more knowledgeable than Murray about suspension? Probably. Does that make his smarter than Murray? I'm sorry, but for you to play down Murray's stamp on the F1 is a massive oversight. You are missing the whole point of the F1. He IS the F1. No McLaren road car produced since then has anywhere the significance and pedigree the F1 has. Why do you think an F1 is worth so much more than any of Ferrari's supercars?
I don't want this to come across crude, but why does it matter? So there won't be another F1? Not really the worst problem currently facing the world.
Oh, are we now addressing world issues in this thread? This thread is about the F1's supposed "successor". If you want to talk about a successor, then address what car is being succeeded, and the history behind it. That's how you determine if something is a worthy successor or not. So yes, it matters greatly, at least to a real enthusiast.
You just seem very upset about the whole thing. Are you in the market for a F1 successor? If not then why are you so upset. You do realize you're arguing in this thread with certain people who are actually in the market for an F1 successor and could even buy an F1 if they wanted.
Not upset in the least bit. Just having a discussion. I don't care if someone can afford whatever they want, my point of view does not change. What difference should that make anyways? You are plenty free to disagree with whatever you like.
I think as soon as you guys understand its not an F1 successor you'll stop disagreeing with each other.
McLaren is using a 720S like a mule for the upcoming BP23 hypercar. http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a12498605/center-seat-mclaren-720s-pictures/
That second pic looks funny with the wheel turned to the right, but his hands and face turned to the left. He must be sliding it based on the rear shot using the right side view camera screen (and mirror). His expression looks pretty flat.
First, McLaren F1 team has nothing to do with McLaren Cars. Second, their lack of performance in F1 has more to do with the Honda engine deficiencies than their own chassis. Even Gordon Murray couldn't do anything about a dud engine. Also, the inflated value of McLaren F1 road car has more to do with their limited number than anything else; just above 100, I believe. Those F1s are collectors items and attract investors. It's rarity that pushes prices up; although the F1 was a damned good car in its own right.
I wouldn't say the McLaren F1 road car price is inflated, it is high for a reason; it's the greatest road car of its century. And to say the price has more to do with the number produced than anything else is not correct. Certainly that is part of its high value, but there are lots of cars with production numbers fewer than the F1's that are worth virtually nothing in comparison. Rarity in and of itself means nothing. You must have high desirability combined with rarity, which is exemplified by the F1.
I'll stop you right there. That is except when their legendary Championship-winning Formula 1 car designer gets carte blanche to build a street car. In that case, the street going F1 has everything to do with Formula 1.
When the McLaren F1 was being developed I met Ron Dennis in Monaco. I asked him a question everyone already knew the answer to, but I just wanted to see his reaction. I said, "So, is Gordon Murray a genius?". I'd barely finished the question when Dennis said, "Yes!".
I agree that the McLaren F1 was an exceptional car that attract many people to buy it, but the fact that it is in very limited number is what pushes its value so high.
You didn't seem to understand my post. McLaren Cars and McLaren F1 are 2 completely different entities. McLaren Cars has a team of engineers that created a range of desirable supercars, but nobody can extract any meaningful performance from the Honda-powered car in the F1 team.
The same team as P1 is working on BP23 You can bet that we are going to have an amazing car on our hands....in all the important areas, performance, quality and aesthetics....
I'm sorry, but when someone makes a statement such as ".......the company has a whole bunch of people who are at least at Gordon Murray's caliber now.......", that clearly tells me that is not the case. That may be the most ridiculous statement I have ever read concerning McLaren. And pointing out that he had a chat with Murray back in December, trying to pass that off as if it means he knows everything about him, is laughable. Why would you even bring that up?
Can't speak for Mark but .. in all due respect McLaren do have a pretty amazing crew working on their road cars. Many of which have come from the holy grail of car companies. Are they GM material? of course not.
And he even claims they are at least at Gordon Murray's caliber now.............................and if you can believe, a whole bunch of them!
Yes and I stand by that. Time marches on and I'm taking specifically in reference to the F1 road car, not the Formula One races cars and not the F1 racing derivatives that raced at places like Le Mans. At last year's Pure McLaren even in Austin I was on track with an F1 and I was totally shocked how slow and floppy it was. It simply can't stand up to today's modern machines and nobody, in their right mind, would expect it to. In a 45 minute race a P1, heck a 12C, would easily lap it several times. Forget expensive cars like McLarens. A Corvette, Porsche GT3RS or Viper ACR are more advanced now. The F1 doesn't have the brakes, tires, suspension, aerodynamics or acceleration to keep up. So by that standard many of McLaren's folks have surpassed Gordon and if you don't think so go ahead and point me to the evidence of what he's done since the F1 to illustrate how he's kept up. The Mercedes 300SL Gullwing was one of the fastest and most advanced cars in the world when it was first put on sale but a run-of-the-mill Toyota Camry will whip it at a stop light and beat it around a track too. It doesn't matter that the Mercedes can hit a top speed of 150 mph and the Camry can maybe only go 130. BTW, I'm not knocking the guy. He's done incredible work and deserves incredible praise. But technology marches on and McLaren has plenty of people working on vastly more advanced machinery today.