McLaren F1 for sale....one not-so-careful previous owner

[Europa1]

Monty Python said:

Perhaps Mr Leno might buy it....

Does he want to have 2?

[TheInternet]

[McAndy]

Chuckle.

I'm oddly sad to read this. Part of me had expected/hoped that this would only ever leave his ownership through execution of his estate (obviously many, many years from now!)

[Yazar]

SturdyHSV said:

Equally Chris Evans isn't where he is because of TV/radio.

Yes he is.

He couldn't have saved up enough money to buy the Virgin Radio stake by working in Tesco now could he.

[billzeebub]

A lovely piece. The car is just sensational and the owner comes across very well indeed. Unbelievable how much these things are worth now. Though, it is so much more appealing than any of the 'computer game' hypercars available today. Loved the references to holiday in Cornwall and the comment from the chap here about the Trackday where the interior was festooned in newspapers and food wrappers! The car has obviously been enjoyed properly. I doubt the next owner will do so in a similar fashion.

[Rawwr]

I'm happy that people like Rowan Atkinson exist.

[J4CKO]

RobM77 said:

J4CKO said:

Strawman said:

Lost soul said:

J4CKO said:

KTF said:

I am still amazed at how much money Atkinson has made from Blackadder and Mr Bean...

I suspect as well there may be some shrewd investment going on, to be fair the Mr Bean thing was huge, Blackadder is a national treasure but I cant imagine it paid as well as Mr Bean, wonder if he gets a few quid every time its shown on UK Gold ? i.e. every day ?

I would think he produces most of his own stuff as well , as well as other production work

Mr Bean got worldwide syndication, you'll notice there is not a lot of dialogue in it, so hardly any dubbing needed.

Yeah, its just as unfunny in Kazakhstan as Slough !

Kids love it though

Yeah, somebody must, shouldn't criticise as someone who can recite pretty much every episode of Blackadder.

[Jabosoc]

I used to kart with RA's son at Silverstone, although he was a maybe four years below me, so I've had the pleasure of looking around his F1 in person. The colour really is glorious, and his enthusiasm for it really does shine through when he's talking about it.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat were I not poor.

Edit: As a heads up to anyone who may meet him in the future, he's not a man who responds well to being treated in the way that most famous people are accustomed to being treated. Just talk to him as you would anybody and he's quite personable.

Edited by Jabosoc on Friday 23 January 13:33

[anonymous-user]

The only thing that annoys me is when people go on about the F1 and say things like "Modern Supercars are so big and heavy" etc in comparison. Well, sorry, but have a go at building an F1 today. Done that, good, now try and sell it. Oh, you can't because it fails pretty much every test in the EU type approval process. Ok, re-engineer it to pass those test. Done that. Ah, not much like an F1 any longer now is it.............

[Lost soul]

Max_Torque said:

The only thing that annoys me is when people go on about the F1 and say things like "Modern Supercars are so big and heavy" etc in comparison. Well, sorry, but have a go at building an F1 today. Done that, good, now try and sell it. Oh, you can't because it fails pretty much every test in the EU type approval process. Ok, re-engineer it to pass those test. Done that. Ah, not much like an F1 any longer now is it.............

Fair comment

[julian64]

Steven_RW said:

Of all the crash repair jobs in the world, this is one that I couldn't careless if it was crashed. The fact McLaren have repaired it to the highest standards means it is better than ever as far as I am concerned.

I'd like someone to put a finger on the actual negative point of it having being crashed previously.

Is it pure emotion rather than logic?

Formula 1 cars are crashed and repaired to a good enough standard to win championships of the toughest competition in the world.

It just doesn't stack that this wouldn't be at least as good as new.

Cheers
Steven RW

I think you'd need a materials expert to give you answer to that question.

Perhaps mclaren don't have the technology to see the damage caused by the accident. Perhaps no-one has. Doesn't mean it isn't there.

As for the £900,000 repair bill, its meaningless unless you actually have a breakdown. Mclaren could charge what they like for repairing the car as no one else would repair it. If someone else did repair it the car would devalue like falling off a cliff.

With a monopoly like that you don't think the price reflects the actual work that went into the car do you?

I wouldn't be worried about driving a car returned from Mclaren in 'as new' condition, but I think its a big jump from that to say 'I couldn't care less if it was crashed'

[Bonefish Blues]

julian64 said:

I think you'd need a materials expert to give you answer to that question.

Perhaps mclaren don't have the technology to see the damage caused by the accident. Perhaps no-one has. Doesn't mean it isn't there.

Eh? Shirley yes.

[ilovevolvo]

I wonder what the repair bill will be for the white/red one that crashed last year

[RobM77]

Jabosoc said:

Edit: As a heads up to anyone who may meet him in the future, he's not a man who responds well to being treated in the way that most famous people are accustomed to being treated. Just talk to him as you would anybody and he's quite personable.

I've often raced with him and yes, he's a very nice guy and very approachable.

[Steven_RW]

julian64 said:

I think you'd need a materials expert to give you answer to that question.

Perhaps mclaren don't have the technology to see the damage caused by the accident. Perhaps no-one has. Doesn't mean it isn't there.

As for the £900,000 repair bill, its meaningless unless you actually have a breakdown. Mclaren could charge what they like for repairing the car as no one else would repair it. If someone else did repair it the car would devalue like falling off a cliff.

With a monopoly like that you don't think the price reflects the actual work that went into the car do you?

I wouldn't be worried about driving a car returned from Mclaren in 'as new' condition, but I think its a big jump from that to say 'I couldn't care less if it was crashed'

Interesting and I do appreciate what you are saying. At the end of the day, I'm not in a position to buy it anyway.

What I do think is interesting is that if McLaren don't have the technology to tell if it is "as good as new", I guess they don't have the technology to say if "new is good" when building it in the first place then? If I understand correctly.

Of all the companies in the world that work with these materials I would have thought McLaren, who have been producing carbon formula one cars for a rather long time probably have every tool needed and every processes needed to check.

How do you think they decide if a formula 1 car repair is good enough to risk a formula one drivers life or to continue their attempt at a championship?

I just can't buy that McLaren are not able to repair a F1 to as good as new standard.

As for the price of the repair, that wasn't a point I was suggesting was important.

I am happy with the chap "Clark" who worked at McLaren saying the car is as good as new. Good enough for me, but I'm happy to hear what I'm missing from his expert opinion.

Steven RW

[TA14]

Steven_RW said:

The fact McLaren have repaired it to the highest standards means it is better than ever as far as I am concerned.

Try justifying why you think it is better than the day it left the factory new and with no possibility of any inbuilt stress in any component that it may have now.

[Dapster]

RobM77 said:

Dapster said:

I wonder if one can ask McLaren to rebuild this to the exact spec and colour of the 5 existing LM road cars, or whether they would refuse in order to maintain the integrity and exclusivity of the LM? If I had limitless pots of cash, that's what I'd be doing.

Surely the LM's just another racing car though? For purely track use, an old F1 car for the same money will be much faster. The unique thing about the Mclaren F1 road car was that it's quiet at a cruise, has luggage space, air con, CD player, comfortable seats, seats three etc. At least that's how I see it?

An LM may well be too extreme for the road despite it being road legal but it doesn't stop me from being totally smitten by it! I'd probably stick with something sensible as a pure daily though, such as a 288 GTO!!

[RobM77]

TA14 said:

Steven_RW said:

The fact McLaren have repaired it to the highest standards means it is better than ever as far as I am concerned.

Try justifying why you think it is better than the day it left the factory new and with no possibility of any inbuilt stress in any component that it may have now.

I think what he meant to say is "better than most of the secondhand F1s out there". It'll never be better than new, but if you could check the details of the repair (and I'm sure they're fully documented), there's a fair chance it'd be close to as good as new, and probably better than most secondhand examples as so many wearable and perishable components will be new (bearings, bushes, hoses, heat shields and perhaps even engine/gearbox parts if anything was damaged in the accident).

[TA14]

RobM77 said:

TA14 said:

Steven_RW said:

The fact McLaren have repaired it to the highest standards means it is better than ever as far as I am concerned.

Try justifying why you think it is better than the day it left the factory new and with no possibility of any inbuilt stress in any component that it may have now.

I think what he meant to say is "better than most of the secondhand F1s out there". It'll never be better than new, but if you could check the details of the repair (and I'm sure they're fully documented), there's a fair chance it'd be close to as good as new, and probably better than most secondhand examples as so many wearable and perishable components will be new (bearings, bushes, hoses, heat shields and perhaps even engine/gearbox parts if anything was damaged in the accident).

That would be fair enough but it's not what he said which was a non-sense for a car like this. I think that 'the better than new' comes from cars like TVRs and Lotus cars which can be rebuilt with a new chassis and more uniform fibreglass, better shut lines and better details on components, uprating and improving connections etc. where it is possible that the car could be better than new. For an F1 where every component was carefully chosen and even the CF was cut into specific, numbered shapes even the very best repair will not be 'better than new'

[RobM77]

TA14 said:

RobM77 said:

TA14 said:

Steven_RW said:

The fact McLaren have repaired it to the highest standards means it is better than ever as far as I am concerned.

Try justifying why you think it is better than the day it left the factory new and with no possibility of any inbuilt stress in any component that it may have now.

I think what he meant to say is "better than most of the secondhand F1s out there". It'll never be better than new, but if you could check the details of the repair (and I'm sure they're fully documented), there's a fair chance it'd be close to as good as new, and probably better than most secondhand examples as so many wearable and perishable components will be new (bearings, bushes, hoses, heat shields and perhaps even engine/gearbox parts if anything was damaged in the accident).

That would be fair enough but it's not what he said which was a non-sense for a car like this. I think that 'the better than new' comes from cars like TVRs and Lotus cars which can be rebuilt with a new chassis and more uniform fibreglass, better shut lines and better details on components, uprating and improving connections etc. where it is possible that the car could be better than new. For an F1 where every component was carefully chosen and even the CF was cut into specific, numbered shapes even the very best repair will not be 'better than new'

Caterhams for example are often said to have a stronger chassis after a 'long front' repair than before - I'm not sure if there's any truth in that! However, for the F1, if built by Mclaren to the standards of one of their racing cars then I would imagine it would be better than a secondhand example of the same age and average mileage (even just age perishes rubber components, so low mileage isn't applicable to everything), but it wouldn't be better than new, unless upgraded components were used, either parts that were upgraded during the car's production life or chosen bits that cost the same but the design has been enhanced?...