Flemke - Is this your McLaren? (Vol 5)

[Joe911]

I read this a few days ago ... https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter
I really love this anecdote ...

"Bill: Remember the laugh we had when we traveled together to Hong Kong and decided to get lunch at McDonald’s? You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out…coupons! Melinda just found this photo of me and “the big spender.” It reminded us how much you value a good deal."

I'd guess Buffett is not into cars, I thought Gates was. Based on the (small) list of cars he has that I've just Googled - he's a rank amateur and needs to up his game

[Total loss]

flemke said:

Atm the tub has been taken back to the bare carbon.

That's why it looks very different

[milfordkong]

Hi Flemke, my apologies if this or something similar has already been answered before but whilst I follow the thread avidly, it is a large and multi-volumed thread and my memory isn't always on top form.

Whilst i'm aware from the thread of your feelings towards modern classics such as the NSX, the Rocket etc (and of course the F1) - Do you own or have a particular affinity for any earlier stuff? Pre-1985 maybe? Whilst classics do of course have numerous limitations in comparison to modern counterparts, many find the purity of the driving experience particularly alluring - How do you feel about driving classic cars on modern roads?

[Beefmeister]

I think many would be surprised how much these F1s actually do get used. Obviously flemke uses his, but I know TT9 uses his red one a fair bit as well.

In the US there are a couple of high milers as there are in Japan. The F1 seems to attract the right sort of buyer - yes they're absurd money but they want to be driven and are in a lot of cases.

[chevronb37]

Joe911 said:

I read this a few days ago ... https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter
I really love this anecdote ...

"Bill: Remember the laugh we had when we traveled together to Hong Kong and decided to get lunch at McDonald’s? You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out…coupons! Melinda just found this photo of me and “the big spender.” It reminded us how much you value a good deal."

I'd guess Buffett is not into cars, I thought Gates was. Based on the (small) list of cars he has that I've just Googled - he's a rank amateur and needs to up his game

I think John Shirley was another of the Microsoft hierarchy and he has a very, very lovely collection: surely one of the world's finest.

[flemke]

milfordkong said:

Hi Flemke, my apologies if this or something similar has already been answered before but whilst I follow the thread avidly, it is a large and multi-volumed thread and my memory isn't always on top form.

Whilst i'm aware from the thread of your feelings towards modern classics such as the NSX, the Rocket etc (and of course the F1) - Do you own or have a particular affinity for any earlier stuff? Pre-1985 maybe? Whilst classics do of course have numerous limitations in comparison to modern counterparts, many find the purity of the driving experience particularly alluring - How do you feel about driving classic cars on modern roads?

No huge affinity for the older cars. Although some of them are beautiful to look at (356, 911, 250SWB, 365GTB, 507, 2000GT, 240Z), they tend not to be beautiful to drive!

It was slightly post-'85, but for many years I had a 959 Sport. On paper it was a fantastic car, but the reality was that, apart from the brakes, it was nowhere near as enjoyable to drive as any modern Porsche is. I am talking about things such as major turbo-lag, a lot of torque-steer, and a heavy rear that wanted to move around too much.

I do have a Healey 3000 in which I had installed a 7 litre Corvette engine, but that project got messed up and is in the process of being redone.

[flemke]

Beefmeister said:

I think many would be surprised how much these F1s actually do get used. Obviously flemke uses his, but I know TT9 uses his red one a fair bit as well.

In the US there are a couple of high milers as there are in Japan. The F1 seems to attract the right sort of buyer - yes they're absurd money but they want to be driven and are in a lot of cases.

Going back about 10 years, I asked the guys at McLaren how many F1s get properly driven annually. They told me that, including mine, they thought about 5 did.

Although many F1s have in the last 10 years got new owners, I don't think the number that get driven regularly has grown all that much; maybe it is up to 10-ish by now. There really is a difference between using on the public road something that is worth £1-2m, and something that is worth 10 times that amount. Traffic is getting steadily worse, as is the condition of the roads, and that is before one considers the standard of driving that is common today.

I am excluding from my estimate that McLaren owners' event, when a bit of driving is organised around visiting posh hotels and restaurants.

[Jimmy Recard]

Am I right that about 100 were made?

If so, your estimate would make it about 10% of the total and I would think that's quite impressive for a sports/supercar.

[flemke]

Jimmy Recard said:

Am I right that about 100 were made?

If so, your estimate would make it about 10% of the total and I would think that's quite impressive for a sports/supercar.

Yes, I think 106 were made. Of that number:
- 2 prototypes were destroyed during testing and development (one intentionally),
- 4 customer road cars have since been written off,
- leaving 100 cars, of which
- 28 were GTR racing cars, of which by now approximately half have been made road legal.
- So you could say that at present there are, roughly, 85 cars that potentially might be driven on the public roads in a given year.

[Roman Moroni]

Slightly off topic, but still very much F1 related.

Many years ago (at least 10, probably many more) I remember reading an article in a magazine written by Jay Leno about the time when he first picked his F1 up and his journey back home. It was a great article written by Leno recalling the trepidation about owning and driving such an iconic & rare car. It had a very funny ending.

I can't remember which magazine it appeared in

Now, does any know/recall the same article? Better still, does anyone own a copy of the magazine that they could kindly post up on here.

A 100 PH points to the individual who can assist

[flemke]

Roman Moroni said:

Slightly off topic, but still very much F1 related.

Many years ago (at least 10, probably many more) I remember reading an article in a magazine written by Jay Leno about the time when he first picked his F1 up and his journey back home. It was a great article written by Leno recalling the trepidation about owning and driving such an iconic & rare car. It had a very funny ending.

I can't remember which magazine it appeared in

Now, does any know/recall the same article? Better still, does anyone own a copy of the magazine that they could kindly post up on here.

A 100 PH points to the individual who can assist

Leno writes mainly for Octane. In those columns, this was the first time that he wrote at any length about his F1:



Are you by any chance thinking of the anecdote about when he gave a ride in the car to two complete strangers?

[milfordkong]

flemke said:

No huge affinity for the older cars. Although some of them are beautiful to look at (356, 911, 250SWB, 365GTB, 507, 2000GT, 240Z), they tend not to be beautiful to drive!

It was slightly post-'85, but for many years I had a 959 Sport. On paper it was a fantastic car, but the reality was that, apart from the brakes, it was nowhere near as enjoyable to drive as any modern Porsche is. I am talking about things such as major turbo-lag, a lot of torque-steer, and a heavy rear that wanted to move around too much.

I do have a Healey 3000 in which I had installed a 7 litre Corvette engine, but that project got messed up and is in the process of being redone.

Thank you, I really appreciate the response... and that Healey sounds like it will be quite something once finished.

[douglas111]

Nice read - thanks Flemke.

[Peloton25]

Suspect the crowd here would appreciate viewing this piece of content McLaren released as part of the F1/25 celebration. Images and video at the link:

http://cars.mclaren.com/featured-articles/rare-spe...



018 is quite truly one of the greatest examples in my opinion. I'm hardly disappointed that it was repainted from its original Midnight Blue Pearl after the first owner sold it, as it's just such a wonderful spec inside and out now.

>8^)
ER

Edited by Peloton25 on Thursday 2nd March 22:14

[Storer]

Peloton25 said:

Suspect the crowd here would appreciate viewing this piece of content McLaren released as part of the F1/25 celebration. Images and video at the link:

http://cars.mclaren.com/featured-articles/rare-spe...



018 is quite truly one of the greatest examples in my opinion. I'm hardly disappointed that it was repainted from its original Midnight Blue Pearl after the first owner sold it, as it's just such a wonderful spec inside and out now.

>8^)
ER

Edited by Peloton25 on Thursday 2nd March 21:03

Great car in the right colour.

I like the comment about driving it every month too.

[flemke]

Peloton25 said:

Suspect the crowd here would appreciate viewing this piece of content McLaren released as part of the F1/25 celebration. Images and video at the link:

http://cars.mclaren.com/featured-articles/rare-spe...



018 is quite truly one of the greatest examples in my opinion. I'm hardly disappointed that it was repainted from its original Midnight Blue Pearl after the first owner sold it, as it's just such a wonderful spec inside and out now.

>8^)
ER

I would not want to get into a dispute with another owner, although I disagree with some of Andrew Bagnall's observations. I have driven his car (before he owned it); indeed the previous owner who had the car modified to LM "spec" happens to be one of my best friends.
It was funny - just after the car's modifications were finished, McLaren brought it to Bruntingthorpe where we ran it alongside my car. The owner was not happy to discover that, although his car would accelerate to 100 more quickly than mine would, from 150 and above my car had the upper hand. Also, we reckoned that the high-downforce kit knocked a good 20 mph off its Vmax.

Really the only difference between a standard road car with the high-downforce kit and the LM "version" is the engine's extra 30-35 BHP and lbs ft. More is usually better, but I would point out that Mika Hakkinen, whose car control skills were okay, said that the standard F1 "definitely has enough power", and Walter Rohrl, another fellow who could steer a motorcar, said that the upper limit on usable BHP in a road car was about 600.

[Peloton25]

As always - your years of involvement and first hand experiences set you apart from nearly anyone else who talks about these cars Flemke.

It doesn't surprise me when you mention the additional power from the LM-spec lump isn't nearly enough to overcome the drag induced by the High Downforce Kit at high speeds. I'd actually be worried if it was as that would probably make it more of a Low Downforce Kit.

Andrew may actually be aware of that fact himself as during the first F1 Tour heading north towards the Dolomites on the Autostrada he was chasing the standard-bodied F1 I was in for a considerable distance. On that run my very enthusiastic driver exceeded an indicated 200 MPH quite a good number of times, slowing for pockets of traffic who weren't able to clear the lane in time, and then right back up to 200+ shortly after. I never thought to look back to see how well he was keeping up, but can say that of the five other cars in our convoy he was the only one to arrive with us at the turnoff for Ortisei.

I know you aren't generally fond of silver wheels - but did you find that car visually appealing after the transformation? Photographic evidence suggests it went through two phases of refits - first with the repaint and standard HDF Kit, and then another round to fit the upgraded engine and "Extra" HDF Kit. Was your friend the one to have that car repainted from Midnight Blue Pearl or did he purchase it after that first round took place?

>8^)
ER

Edited by Peloton25 on Friday 3rd March 00:40

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Peloton25 said:

Suspect the crowd here would appreciate viewing this piece of content McLaren released as part of the F1/25 celebration. Images and video at the link:

http://cars.mclaren.com/featured-articles/rare-spe...



018 is quite truly one of the greatest examples in my opinion. I'm hardly disappointed that it was repainted from its original Midnight Blue Pearl after the first owner sold it, as it's just such a wonderful spec inside and out now.

>8^)
ER

Edited by Peloton25 on Thursday 2nd March 22:14

That is an absolutely beautiful colour scheme. I think I've seen a picture of it next to a similarly done P1, presumably his? Very special.

[douglas111]

Thanks for sharing Peloton.

I'm very boring. I prefer the purer original design, although I do like the HDF kit (except wing). I actually prefer the first F1 shown at the launch that has the high wing mirrors and fog (?) lights next to the front air intakes. Incidentally, is that the only car with those lights?

I do like the grey, especially with that leather interior, but again, still prefer the 'standard' silver paint. I guess the silver colour has a more exciting name though

What is the extra HDF kit, or HDF+ ? I assume the shark fin-like air outlets above the wheels but can't think what else.

If I was going to be really picky (which I sense I will be at any second), then I noticed the wheels are a different grey to the paintwork which doesn't quite work for me. We're all entitled to an opinion, right?

But it's a lovely looking car and some nice photos.

Edited by douglas111 on Friday 3rd March 12:20

[epom]

Are those wheels painted or the natural colour though ? IMO painting the wheels the body colour would be trying way too hard.
That's some car though. Fab.