Mclaren F1 in big accident
Discussion
SD1992 said:
That is bad news, I hope he is alright!
I imagine this is the same F1 that he crashed into the back of a Metro?
Hmmm, one our clients many moons ago hit him up the arse in their metro, he was driving an Aston at the time. My mum (also ins broker) handled the claim and put "mr bean/blackadder" after his name on the claim form.....just to remove any doubt.I imagine this is the same F1 that he crashed into the back of a Metro?
Was mid 90's
DonkeyApple said:
Welshbeef said:
That is a great video not seen it for years
The noise mmmmm that's why V12's are the best noise of any race and road cars
It was a nice reminder of just what a special car the F1 is. Truly wonderful. The noise mmmmm that's why V12's are the best noise of any race and road cars
If this has been asked before I apologise but we have all been talking about the reparability of the tub which is very much in question. But what of the engine? Does BMW hold a stock of spare blocks encase of situations like this or would they have to cast a new one, also do the moulds still exist??
The same question could be asked about the gearbox
Peloton I await your response
The same question could be asked about the gearbox
Peloton I await your response
I am fairly certain that McLaren do have some stock on the gearboxes but I do not believe they have any spare engines just sitting around. I agree that solving any major issues with the drivetrain bits following the crash will be the more complicated part of this repair process unless the chassis is well and truly 'bleep'ed.
Not sure if you had a chance to read the Sports Car Market Letter article, but with the car that caught fire in the USA in 2009 they had the original engine from the car rebuilt instead of replacing it. Perhaps that meant a trip back to BMW Motorsport as I don't think McLaren's technicians would have been the ones to do that work.
This might also be a good question to pose to flemke. As an owner he may have asked questions like this in the past or have enough experience with the factory after a decade of F1 ownership to know how it might be handled.
>8^)
ER
Not sure if you had a chance to read the Sports Car Market Letter article, but with the car that caught fire in the USA in 2009 they had the original engine from the car rebuilt instead of replacing it. Perhaps that meant a trip back to BMW Motorsport as I don't think McLaren's technicians would have been the ones to do that work.
This might also be a good question to pose to flemke. As an owner he may have asked questions like this in the past or have enough experience with the factory after a decade of F1 ownership to know how it might be handled.
>8^)
ER
Peloton25 said:
This might also be a good question to pose to flemke. As an owner he may have asked questions like this in the past or have enough experience with the factory after a decade of F1 ownership to know how it might be handled.
I asked a similar question of him a while back and the reply was that McLaren don't "open" the engine at all. It's done by BMW.ETA linkie: Here
C
Would be interesting to see how it is repaired, still think there is a documentary in it, whether or not Mr Atkinson would want involvement but perhaps given how its defintitely his car and no chance of it not being, maybe it would be a bit intrusive, perhaps McLaren dont want to give anything away, but they do want to sell MP12's.
Regardless of the why's and wherefores I for one would love to see the process of this car being put back on the road, the engine being a very interesting question, nowadays anything can be milled from a billet of Aluminium so assuming they have all the drawings I am sure it can be fed into soem CAD/CAM system and a new one created, gross over-simplification but I am sure it can be done.
Regardless of the why's and wherefores I for one would love to see the process of this car being put back on the road, the engine being a very interesting question, nowadays anything can be milled from a billet of Aluminium so assuming they have all the drawings I am sure it can be fed into soem CAD/CAM system and a new one created, gross over-simplification but I am sure it can be done.
RobboC said:
A silly question perhaps, but I wonder if they could build a new tub using the new methods? I read somewhere the MP4 takes about 8hours to put the tub together, but the F1 was something like 3000? If they can cut the time down it may be more viable.
Not possible. The result would be a different car design altogether, would cost more due to requirement to re-homologate, etc, etc.If they rebuild that car at all, it will be the hard way.
By the way, McLaren's MP4-12C tub is made for them in Austria by carbotech, it's not an in-house built thing, although I believe the design specifications are from McLaren.
It's cheaper because they use a simpler design with larger crfp parts, less hand layup, more automation etc.
Really, a lot of that clever stuff isn't McLaren design, it's Carbotech production engineering to keep costs down.
C
McLaren claim that the tub was their specification and their design, but just manufactured by a specialist company.
Back on topic, the 12C tub has to be moulded around pattern formers and I would expect it would cost far too much to create new moulds for the F1, even if it were possible.
Back on topic, the 12C tub has to be moulded around pattern formers and I would expect it would cost far too much to create new moulds for the F1, even if it were possible.
zippycar said:
McLaren claim that the tub was their specification and their design, but just manufactured by a specialist company.
Back on topic, the 12C tub has to be moulded around pattern formers and I would expect it would cost far too much to create new moulds for the F1, even if it were possible.
Agree with the above. I see it as being a similar sort of relationship Lotus have with Hydro Aluminium over the elise/exige/etc/etc chassis. Lotus engineering, made by someone else.Back on topic, the 12C tub has to be moulded around pattern formers and I would expect it would cost far too much to create new moulds for the F1, even if it were possible.
The fact that bare chassis turn up in Hethel doesn't make the result any less "Lotus-y". I think the same way about this arrangement for the MP4/12C.
C
Peloton25 said:
McLaren patched this car back together in 2009/2010 for a US owner after a fire without needing to build a new tub for the car:
Many of the same items were damaged and one could even argue that the heat of the fire caused more damage with the delaminating layers of carbon fiber than Rowan's accident would have. The rebuild of this car (#067) was reported on in a story that was published in SCM in October 2010:
A McLaren F1’s Rise from the Ashes
>8^)
ER
McLaren didn't want to rebuild that car, but had their hand forced by a independent insurance assessor hired by the owner who basically threatened them if they wouldntMany of the same items were damaged and one could even argue that the heat of the fire caused more damage with the delaminating layers of carbon fiber than Rowan's accident would have. The rebuild of this car (#067) was reported on in a story that was published in SCM in October 2010:
A McLaren F1’s Rise from the Ashes
>8^)
ER
Edited by Peloton25 on Saturday 6th August 04:58
elms said:
McLaren didn't want to rebuild that car, but had their hand forced by a independent insurance assessor hired by the owner who basically threatened them if they wouldnt
That's a good thing for the owner then in multiple respects, but mostly because he claimed in the early news reports he was under-insured with a stated value policy somewhere in the $2M range. At the time of his crash F1s were generally trading for around $3M and about one year after his accident a fairly similar car changed hands for nearly $4M at the Gooding auction in Monterey. If the car had been written off he'd have needed to do a lot of digging in his couch cushions to find the extra coin to replace it. It was certainly a good lesson for many with high dollar cars to keep their insurance policies in line with current market values.
I was glad to see it rebuilt as it was the first F1 road car I ever laid eyes on back in 2003 when it belonged to the previous owner, Elon Musk.
>8^)
ER
Rollcage said:
Atkinson has confirmed the car is being rebuilt - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/15111090
I wonder if they'll use the opportunity to upgrade a few things too?
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff