[flemke]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

if i may proffer an opinion on the interior.....

At the moment you seem to be stuck at a bit of a half way house between that interesting "race car functional" look and a luxury interior look. In photos from a distance the bashboard almost looks "flocked", and the seets are utilitarian.

The blue stripes are obviously there to tie the exterior to the interior, but look too much like an afterthought for my tastes- an anology (and a not very accurate one) is seeing a £200 corsa with £1500 sparco racing seats- neither one thing nor t'other.

Flemke for you the macca seems very much a "car" rather than automotive porn, and is to be driven rather than just looked at and admired. as such it strikes me that the interior should be almost more interesting than the exterior- i've always wanted a supercar with and exterior that looks like its just won the mille miglia, but an interior that makes you "wow".

perhaps you have a choice of whether to try and beat the likes of Zonda with a unique interior, or go down the highly simplistic race car look but using a fit finish that would make any Formula one car driver weep.

There is too much in the interior that is fixed for one to have much scope for imposing a "personality" on the car, except in a superficial way.
I'm not going to strip out any more of what's there (I have already done so to a degree), because that would compromise the comfort and increase the interior noise, which is already pretty loud.

I have a lot of time for Horacio Pagani, but for me his interiors are ghastly - well done for what they're meant to be, but what they're meant to be is awful.

[Globs]

Silver Smudger said:

Have to say that this pic from Detailing World has to be my favourite of this car. Not sure exactly why, although it's in an untidy setting and has a rag dumped on it, the angle is spot on and it looks somehow more 'real' here. The sort of view I would love to see in my garage of a proper purposeful car just ready and waiting to go.

I agree!

• No bright blue wheel nuts [check]
• No bright blue seat stripes to be seen [check]
• Bizarre door stripe almost invisible [check]

Even with black wheels it's a whole lot more coherent to look at.

[MrDarkBlack]

Globs said:

Glad to see the car is back together, although as usual black wheels on a road car look very wrong and mess up the whole colour coordination everywhere, which contributes to the car looking very piecemeal and bitty.

Frankly the wheel nut colour looks terrible, very chavvy and have no place on an F1, and the interior looks too dark - and then there are those weird blue stripy bits on the seats. The side stripe on the car - I just have no idea why that's there - if you think the car needs bling then why not got the whole hog and add a bunch of chrome?

I think the hub of the problem is the application of colours and style from here and there through history, so the resulting hodgepodge is like a car crash between a chavved up Halfords special Nova and a D type Jag. The reason fabrics and colours from old cars match those cars is because the whole thing is contemporary, seamless and has been put together by an artistic designer.

The good news however is that the basic body colour is very nice, nothing wrong with that at all. A simple remedy of black anodised wheel nuts, getting rid of the ridiculous stripe on the door and some rework on the interior and it could look a very fine car indeed.

BTW: The easy bit on the F1 should be the exterior, the interior is more challenging because of the unusual layout and shapes. You basically have three colour zones to play with - perhaps four, carpets, seats, door cards and dash. Choose 2 or 3 colours that complement each other and the outer paintwork and it will look nice.

P.S. sorry if this comes across as a bit harsh F, I'm aiming for honesty and helpfulness and I can see you are not sold on it either.

Do you know why the wheels are black? And why the wheel nuts are so coloured? It's been well documented here, so not sure why would come up with such drivel as the cliche regards Halfords.

ps : Not meant to sound harsh.


Edited to correct the error in my ways, that's already been quoted. My excuse, it's Friday....hic...night.

Edited by MrDarkBlack on Friday 16th September 22:54

[flemke]

Guyr said:

flemke said:

I've not forgotten - 3437.

It took me about 15 seconds of looking blankly at the numbers, then I worked it out

Guy

PS As good as the current ones are to show us the new colours, it really deserves a professional treatment and Georges photos are great. http://www.gfwilliams.net/Portfolio/

I've nothing against the photos you recommend, but they're artworks that happen to have cars as a focal point. They're not about the cars.
IMO, the best photography for this purpose is the clinical, "mug-shot" kind - utterly neutral setting, no tricks of the light, just showing us what's there.

[flemke]

ph123 said:

Is this a colour scheme nicked from Frank Williams in the Piers Courage days
or even Ken Tyrell's F2 days ...?

Nothing to do w those.
The paint was formulated for use by Alfa in around '88-'90. Once I decided the paint, I tried to compose elements that would complement it. I was conscious, as I homed in on the white details, that there was a visual link to Rob Walker's cars, but that was coincidence, not intention.

[Pesty]

Silver Smudger said:

Have to say that this pic from Detailing World has to be my favourite of this car.

Just seen the detailing world thread. Colour is really growing on me. Like it a lot.


Can I ask why the paint is is in such a state right after a full respray?

[flemke]

El Guapo said:

MattOz said:

Great thread in the Studio section of Detaling World today.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

Flemke, the pre-detail swirl marks in the paint are much worse than I would have expected to see on a freshly-painted car. Did it emerge from the paint shop like that or did some boy scouts wash it with a gritty sponge?

To you and others who have commented on the swirl marks in the original:

The detailer took those images under a lighting system that was specifically designed to show up scratches/swirl marks. He told me that this extent of revelation was typical amongst the better-quality paint jobs that are delivered to him for final finishing.
In normal light, I can assure you that the paint looked fine - not super-polished and flawless the way that it is now, but fine and fit-for-purpose.

[flemke]

Waynester said:

Without wading through 100's of previous pages...

....why the change of interior? Was the original material, colour, design unique to start with?

Nice Mclaren though.

The interior, when I obtained the car, was several shades of grey with some red accents. With that, the exterior was silver. I believe that it was unique to the car, but it was not fundamentally different to the basic interior decorative concept that was found in most of the silver cars.
When I had it resprayed the first time, the interior became all black, although some of what they called "black" was a darkish grey. This time, I wanted to liven it up a bit, give it a bit more character. In some ways I succeeded (in numerous details, the interior departs from standard), but not with the blue.

[flemke]

dan5oclocksmith said:

Flemke, a couple of questions if I may:

1. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the significance of the sticker in the side window?



2. Have you ever had the F1 on a rolling road?

No - no reason to. I'm not that curious as to power output. When I drove Gordon M, he gave me his estimate. My own power measurement is, "More than enough".
Also, I don't want to spoil a good set of tyres on a RR.

[flemke]

AreseV6 said:

I have never noticed the little air intake below the large side strakes , what is it for ?

Vent for luggage locker. Without it, moisture would accumulate and after awhile things would be rather unpleasant.

[flemke]

dan5oclocksmith said:

Shmee said:

Forgot I took these on my phone:

E36 wiper stalk?

I thought the stalks were out of the old 8-series.

[Globs]

MrDarkBlack said:

Do you know why the wheels are black?

Because Flemke loves black wheels - yes, I've disagreed with him before on this

MrDarkBlack said:

And why the hubs are so coloured?

The hubs look like silver to me - although that could just be the brake discs!
Because they are steel? Good choice.

[flemke]

Streetrod said:

Rollcage said:

When I had a small garage, and we did a full respray, cars went out with better finished paintwork than that. Pretty poor, IMO.

I have to agree. I have sprayed my own cars for a great number of years and the finish out of the gun has always looked a great deal better than that. Normally you are left with an orange peel effect out of the gun that then needs to be flatted and then polished. I hate to think what was done to that paint for it to end up looking like.

To reiterate what I wrote above, the visibility of those swirl marks was hugely amplified by the lighting, and the photography.

[flemke]

hurstg01 said:

Shmee said:

I still like that although I do think that increasing the blue on the passenger seats to a more broader strip would make it more appealing.

I love the fact you ended up with the harnesses buckles anodised in red, a nice touch.

I had those anodised in red a couple of years ago; I had several sets made up by request. Willans only offer black and blue adjusters, but they kindly arranged for those to be made up bespoke for me.

[flemke]

anniesdad said:

Flemke,

If you can find any time - some peeps are asking questions about 959's here. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Knowing you have one I just wondered if you would be able to provide any input in relation to servicing costs.

S

Thanks, S. I have now made a comment or two on that thread. What the hell do these people imagine needs doing every year for £20k - an engine rebuild?

[shirt]

love this shot with old henry in the background. made me chuckle anyway...

[flemke]

Globs said:

Shmee said:

Random wheel shot:

Glad to see the car is back together, although as usual black wheels on a road car look very wrong and mess up the whole colour coordination everywhere, which contributes to the car looking very piecemeal and bitty.

Frankly the wheel nut colour looks terrible, very chavvy and have no place on an F1, and the interior looks too dark - and then there are those weird blue stripy bits on the seats. The side stripe on the car - I just have no idea why that's there - if you think the car needs bling then why not got the whole hog and add a bunch of chrome?

I think the hub of the problem is the application of colours and style from here and there through history, so the resulting hodgepodge is like a car crash between a chavved up Halfords special Nova and a D type Jag. The reason fabrics and colours from old cars match those cars is because the whole thing is contemporary, seamless and has been put together by an artistic designer.

The good news however is that the basic body colour is very nice, nothing wrong with that at all. A simple remedy of black anodised wheel nuts, getting rid of the ridiculous stripe on the door and some rework on the interior and it could look a very fine car indeed.

BTW: The easy bit on the F1 should be the exterior, the interior is more challenging because of the unusual layout and shapes. You basically have three colour zones to play with - perhaps four, carpets, seats, door cards and dash. Choose 2 or 3 colours that complement each other and the outer paintwork and it will look nice.

P.S. sorry if this comes across as a bit harsh F, I'm aiming for honesty and helpfulness and I can see you are not sold on it either.

It does not come across as harsh. It does, however, come across as, shall I say euphemistically, uninsightful.

[Olivera]

To me the new colour scheme looks great. Normally dark wheels only look good when contrasted against much lighter paintwork, but there is just enough of a contrast with dark blue paint to work well. An unusual colour combination for such a car but I think it looks lovely.

[flemke]

Pesty said:

Silver Smudger said:

Have to say that this pic from Detailing World has to be my favourite of this car.

Just seen the detailing world thread. Colour is really growing on me. Like it a lot.


Can I ask why the paint is is in such a state right after a full respray?

Because the lighting and photography are purposely designed to make any micro-scratches and swirl marks as conspicuous as possible. To the naked eye, in even bright sunlight, those marks were not remotely as noticeable as they are in the images here.

[flemke]

Globs said:

MrDarkBlack said:

Do you know why the wheels are black?

Because Flemke loves black wheels - yes, I've disagreed with him before on this

MrDarkBlack said:

And why the hubs are so coloured?

The hubs look like silver to me - although that could just be the brake discs!
Because they are steel? Good choice.

Sorry, but what is meant by "hubs"? There are no hubs visible in any of these images or, indeed, unless the wheel is removed.