The McLaren F1 It is considered by many fans to be the great sports car of the 1990s. Launched in 1992, it was an icon of design and engineering, made with ultra-light materials that were unprecedented for its time. The car lacked nothing and even had it gold pieces.
To pay tribute to those 30 years since its launchin the United Kingdom an event was organized which brought together 13 specimens evaluated over 280 million dollars.
Seen from the outside they don’t seem like a large number of units, but in reality they represent more than 10% of its total production, taking into account that until 1998 they were produced. 106 vehicles.
At the event, organized by the specialized magazine Classic Driver and Kiklo Spaces, five McLaren F1 road cars, five McLaren F1 Gran Turismo, plus three other long tail, of which one is a prototype, were exhibited.
One of these stands out for being made specifically for the founder of Uneo Clinic, the company that sponsored the Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR in 1995.
The businessman wanted to buy the actual race car, but McLaren instead built him a single street version in the same colors as the winning car.
Another example present is the one that the Woking brand gave to former driver Michael Andretti – who briefly raced in Formula 1 with McLaren – before being replaced by Mika Häkkinen.
Cars were the main attraction of the event, but the meeting also featured a special collection of F1-related items, such as the Toolbox received by every car buyer.
Since McLaren did not have service centers at the time, its engineers had to use them in case they had to perform a specific task in the owner’s location.
In the name of sport
Conceived by famed engineer Gordon Murray, backed by entrepreneur Ron Dennis and designed by Peter Stevens, the McLaren F1 redefined supercars when its prototype debuted in 1992.
It is believed that he was born from a sketch by Gordon Murray while he was waiting for a flight and that his name was a direct joke on the ferrari f40, indicating it was 39 seats behind. Although it stopped being a joke when it became the fastest production model in the world.
Its development began in the late 1980s and was considered a revolutionary model for transporting rare ultralight materials for vehicles of this type.
Its monocoque structure was made in carbon fiberwhile materials such as titanium, magnesium and kevlar were introduced into the bodywork, with the aim of reducing its weight and giving it sufficient resistance to the forces of gravity that were generated while walking.
For its part, the engine and part of the hood were 24 karat gold platedbut not as a symbol of ostentation, but to better dissipate the heat generated.
The engine, developed by BMW’s M Sport division, is a 6.1-liter (6,064 cm3) V12 that produced an output of 627 horses and a torque of 651 Nm.
With a total weight of 1,140 kilos, the McLaren F1 became the fastest model in the world when one of its versions reached the 386 km / h (XP5 prototype) setting a long time record.
Another of the special features of F1 was that it had three places; the main one, located in the center of the cockpit to offer a driving position similar to that of Formula One, while the other two on its sides.
The interior was simple enough, although her equipment included a data transmitter that sent information to McLaren headquarters that allowed her to anticipate wear on its parts or monitor their operation, thus avoiding future breakdowns.
Source: Clarin
