[briSk]

(if anyone else is interested you have to go to circa page 234 for the details on the current issue being discussed).

that's bad luck but as said at least you and everyone else are okay. it's not meant flippantly but it is only a car at the end of the day.

When i saw the pictures it does look like it could have been a goner..see elises with apparently less of an impact (i appreciate a differnet tub!) and they'd been 'written off'...

again not meant flippantly.. but you can go for the colour change now i vote for that metallic brown of the murcielago!

[Mazda Baiter]

flemke said:

abarth130 said:

flemke said:

Stuart said:

flemke said:

fatboy69 said:

flemke - would you be referring to a car of which 272 were offically built whilst over 300 were alledgedly registered?

I was thinking of the 288 and F40, although it may well have happened with other, earlier models.

Brand new numbers, or built up from an existing/written off/unused engine and chassis plate?

I do not know this for a fact, and the basis of the chassis #s was not mentioned, but I was told that 100% inventory parts were built into new (as in, "had not previously existed as objects") cars, but were then given the official factory certification as having been from the period, rather than being modern "bitsas".

As a life-long Ferrari obsessive, the appeal of the marque to me has always centred around the unattainable nature of the product along with Enzo's supposed philosophy of building less than you can sell, maintaining the desirability of the cars in general. The more I see Ferrari branded fleeces and mobile phones and middle eastern theme parks these days, the more the appeal of the brand diminishes in my eyes along with many others, I'm sure.

But this little snippet of information is the icing on the cake. This 'if you have the money, you can have anything' philosophy is not what Ferrari was all about, but it would certainly seem to be the case now.

Flemke - do you not worry that McLaren might go the way of other big businesses and start making a continuation model of the F1 in future years as well as some of the other brand-devaluing antics that Ferrari have adopted in recent years?

The story I was told did not involve money.

Someone who has a black FXX?

[Joe911]

Soovy said:

Flemke - is it beyond the bounds of possibility that he already knew you'd had an accident from an "alert" triggered by live telemetry? That is to say are all of the cars always "talking" to the factory (lateral g, whereabouts, speed, throttle opening heh heh)

The 'telemetry' in the car is what we would now consider to be very very basic.
The car has (as I understand it) an interface that allows you to connect a very old style GSM phone and upload what must be a trivial amount of data (very slowly). There is nothing 'live'.

(I'm not criticising it - back in 1992 it was state of the art, I'm sure)

Edited by Joe911 on Friday 6th August 12:58

[Alfie Noakes]

flemke said:

The story I was told did not involve money.

A leaving present for Mr Schumacher?

[Joe911]

Alfie Noakes said:

flemke said:

The story I was told did not involve money.

A leaving present for Mr Schumacher?

I don't think MS was flavour of the month when he left (was pushed).

[Alfie Noakes]

Joe911 said:

Alfie Noakes said:

flemke said:

The story I was told did not involve money.

A leaving present for Mr Schumacher?

I don't think MS was flavour of the month when he left (was pushed).

Good point. How about a bribe to get rid of Mr Schumacher?

PS When typing the name Schumacher I was struck by a terrible dread that I should, in true Harry Potter tradition, type "He who's name cannot be spoken".

[hurstg01]

flemke said:

Within 5 minutes of my crunchification last week, before the police had arrived, I was speaking with the man at McL. who oversees the F1s. He had known that I was going to be driving the car that day. He answered his phone with, "Hi, Flemke. Why do I have the feeling that you're not calling me with good news?"

If I bought an F1 that's the kind of service I'd like. Well done DH (?) - when I met him he was very courteous, knowledgeable and very business-like, just what I expected

[will_]

flemke said:

"Hi, Flemke. Why do I have the feeling that you're not calling me with good news?"

Since your internet fame, is that how you're now known to everyone? A bit like Prince or Madonna?

Does your wife call you that now too?!

[NightDriver]

Looks like someones been reading PH....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1300905/Br...

[dudleybloke]

NightDriver said:

Looks like someones been reading PH....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1300905/Br...

usualy its someone on here quoting the daily mail but now they're quoting ph the circle is now complete!

[flemke]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Flemke,

Sorry if I have missed it, but the day of the 'crunchification' - an average day you were just using the F1 ?(is there such a thing?) or your post above suggests a planned journey.

Are all journeys in the F1 'planned' ? or is it a case of Nice Weather which keys / cars are the closest.

Cheers

Sometimes they're planned, not always. I mainly try to avoid traffic and bad weather, and stay on good roads as much as poss.

[flemke]

briSk said:

(if anyone else is interested you have to go to circa page 234 for the details on the current issue being discussed).

that's bad luck but as said at least you and everyone else are okay. it's not meant flippantly but it is only a car at the end of the day.

When i saw the pictures it does look like it could have been a goner..see elises with apparently less of an impact (i appreciate a differnet tub!) and they'd been 'written off'...

again not meant flippantly.. but you can go for the colour change now i vote for that metallic brown of the murcielago!

The way that the F1 is designed, the repair's just not going to be a problem. It may not need a new nosebox, but, even if it did, the thing is designed to be replaceable with, literally, no knock-on effects on the rest of the car.

Wrt the brown Murci, I'm not sure that that colour, or any brown, would work on the F1 as I want it to work. I think of the car as a sports car, so it needs a sports car colour. Browns can, very occasionally, look spectacular on certain road cars, but the sportier/racier the car, the tougher the fit.
Can you think of a racing car that looked good (good, not tolerable ) in brown?

[flemke]

hurstg01 said:

flemke said:

Within 5 minutes of my crunchification last week, before the police had arrived, I was speaking with the man at McL. who oversees the F1s. He had known that I was going to be driving the car that day. He answered his phone with, "Hi, Flemke. Why do I have the feeling that you're not calling me with good news?"

If I bought an F1 that's the kind of service I'd like. Well done DH (?) - when I met him he was very courteous, knowledgeable and very business-like, just what I expected

It was his boss, a man with a secret workshop.
DH actually has changed jobs. He's now part of the new project, with managerial responsibilities for the Mideast sales agents. He should have moved out there by now.

[flemke]

will_ said:

flemke said:

"Hi, Flemke. Why do I have the feeling that you're not calling me with good news?"

Since your internet fame, is that how you're now known to everyone? A bit like Prince or Madonna?

Does your wife call you that now too?!

No wife. Someone might refer to me by that name, but only rarely, and as a joke.
I did used to have a nickname, but not "Flemke".

[PabloTeK]

flemke said:

briSk said:

(if anyone else is interested you have to go to circa page 234 for the details on the current issue being discussed).

that's bad luck but as said at least you and everyone else are okay. it's not meant flippantly but it is only a car at the end of the day.

When i saw the pictures it does look like it could have been a goner..see elises with apparently less of an impact (i appreciate a differnet tub!) and they'd been 'written off'...

again not meant flippantly.. but you can go for the colour change now i vote for that metallic brown of the murcielago!

The way that the F1 is designed, the repair's just not going to be a problem. It may not need a new nosebox, but, even if it did, the thing is designed to be replaceable with, literally, no knock-on effects on the rest of the car.

Wrt the brown Murci, I'm not sure that that colour, or any brown, would work on the F1 as I want it to work. I think of the car as a sports car, so it needs a sports car colour. Browns can, very occasionally, look spectacular on certain road cars, but the sportier/racier the car, the tougher the fit.
Can you think of a racing car that looked good (good, not tolerable ) in brown?

Closest I can think of, then again, I am a closet Hillbilly...

[Mazda Baiter]

flemke said:

briSk said:

(if anyone else is interested you have to go to circa page 234 for the details on the current issue being discussed).

that's bad luck but as said at least you and everyone else are okay. it's not meant flippantly but it is only a car at the end of the day.

When i saw the pictures it does look like it could have been a goner..see elises with apparently less of an impact (i appreciate a differnet tub!) and they'd been 'written off'...

again not meant flippantly.. but you can go for the colour change now i vote for that metallic brown of the murcielago!

The way that the F1 is designed, the repair's just not going to be a problem. It may not need a new nosebox, but, even if it did, the thing is designed to be replaceable with, literally, no knock-on effects on the rest of the car.

Wrt the brown Murci, I'm not sure that that colour, or any brown, would work on the F1 as I want it to work. I think of the car as a sports car, so it needs a sports car colour. Browns can, very occasionally, look spectacular on certain road cars, but the sportier/racier the car, the tougher the fit.
Can you think of a racing car that looked good (good, not tolerable ) in brown?

Also, brown has already been tried on an F1.

I'm sure the nickname would be resurrected PDQ.

That Murcielago is sublime though. It's the only one I've seen that I would have.

[fatboy69]

Flemke. Now that you have graced the hallowed pages of the Daily Mail will you still want to speak to us mere trolls & plebs?

You are a star & can i please have your autograph on my copy of the Mail?

[flemke]

contango said:

Flemke, as your thoughts are back on colour.

I know previously you were looking for the perfect blue, but after recent events would it make sense to go for a bright "signal" colour, yellow, orange or green!....
As you use the car on the public road, this may make the car even more visible to other road users and potentially safer, assuming they are actually looking for other traffic that is.

I'm not sure that I could live with one of those "Here-I-am!" colours on an F1. They tend to defeat the point of having a beautiful car. It's not inconceivable that a light-coloured, or at least different-coloured, band around the nose, using the front "PU", could look decent and have that function. It could always be wrapped in the more noticeable colour.
Or I could always run with the headlamps on.

[andy74b]

Sorry to hear your news flemke, must have been a terrible experience. Sure the guys will have it back together quickly. Have you though about changing bodywork to the high downforce since you replacing front clip (spare one in my garage!)

Re brown race cars, how about my uncles old car,? Chevron b26, the chocolate drop.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandfish_imagining/26...

Looks great in the original race livery.

flemke said:

briSk said:

(if anyone else is interested you have to go to circa page 234 for the details on the current issue being discussed).

that's bad luck but as said at least you and everyone else are okay. it's not meant flippantly but it is only a car at the end of the day.

When i saw the pictures it does look like it could have been a goner..see elises with apparently less of an impact (i appreciate a differnet tub!) and they'd been 'written off'...

again not meant flippantly.. but you can go for the colour change now i vote for that metallic brown of the murcielago!

The way that the F1 is designed, the repair's just not going to be a problem. It may not need a new nosebox, but, even if it did, the thing is designed to be replaceable with, literally, no knock-on effects on the rest of the car.

Wrt the brown Murci, I'm not sure that that colour, or any brown, would work on the F1 as I want it to work. I think of the car as a sports car, so it needs a sports car colour. Browns can, very occasionally, look spectacular on certain road cars, but the sportier/racier the car, the tougher the fit.
Can you think of a racing car that looked good (good, not tolerable ) in brown?

[Digger]

Flemke, any joy with the Police catching up with the one that got away?