Flemke - Is this your McLaren? (Vol 5)

[F1GTRUeno]

Emphatically not a real advert and it's not even funny how obvious it is.

[dudleybloke]

Sweet music to my ears!!!!!!

https://youtu.be/4vNWbHJZWdI

[Rich_W]

flemke said:

and I have not yet found the need to travel in a convoy of pretentious rich people. I can read a map myself, I don't want to sleep in a castle, and I'd rather have a good burger and a root beer than filet mignon and a 1982 Chateau-du-Bullsheet.

Harsh!

Do you not count any of the people there as, well I say friends, but maybe strong acquaintances might me more accurate?


Slight O/T have you ever met Erik/Peleton25?

I'm guessing he's more into the F1 than even the Factory. And does he potentially know more about your car than even you?

Edited by Rich_W on Thursday 1st June 23:34

[moneymakestheworldgoaround]

The tour has been good... 21 F1's!

Here's a pic of 5

[hyphen]

Twitter:

[hyphen]

flemke said:

and I have not yet found the need to travel in a convoy of pretentious rich people. I can read a map myself, I don't want to sleep in a castle, and I'd rather have a good burger and a root beer than filet mignon and a 1982 Chateau-du-Bullsheet.

You may have a point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzopqXAfGO/?taken-by=...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzbttrAyic/?taken-by=...

Lots of number plates in photos so had a look at the mot online, a fair few appear to not have an mot at present- are they trailed there, as assumed it was a driving tour?

Edited by hyphen on Thursday 1st June 23:52

[BenjiA]

Anyone one who has followed this thread for a few years knows Flemke has good reasons for keeping a low profile. His shared thoughts on the machinery I can only dream of driving are cherished. Thank you for resuming after the issues you had.

[hyphen]

I haven't followed it for a few years so don't know his good reasons but if you want to keep a low profile, then driving an F1in public anywhere would be a strange choice. More so with todays smartphone addicts always on hand to take a pic.

[BenjiA]

I suspect that a picture of flemke outside of his car would not help to identify him, to most of us. We should all be aware that having one's identity stolen is a risk and it can be very painful, so we should minimise that risk, if we can.

flemke, as I have finally put my head above the parapet on this thread after being a long time reader, is there anything recent you have driven that you have liked? I suspect something like the M2 might have been to your taste (but obviously not perfect). Have you driven a golf R?

[Joe911]

hyphen said:

You may have a point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzopqXAfGO/?taken-by=...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzbttrAyic/?taken-by=...

Lots of number plates in photos so had a look at the mot online, a fair few appear to not have an mot at present- are they trailed there, as assumed it was a driving tour?

FFS, both of those pics are just shameful.

Regarding the MOTs - you need an MOT in your home country to drive the car legally abroad, or not?

[Mikeeb]

flemke said:

No specific plans for summer drives. At the moment the interior of my car is being retrimmed; not sure how soon it will be finished - they do great work, but McLaren are not known for always being the quickest to get a job done.

Unless I missed it (entirely possible) I don't think you'd previously mentioned that your were having the car re-trimmed. I recall you weren't happy with the colour you chose following the rebuild. Can I ask what the new scheme is?

Thanks

[hyphen]

Joe911 said:

FFS, both of those pics are just shameful.

Regarding the MOTs - you need an MOT in your home country to drive the car legally abroad, or not?

To be fair, there are lots of nicely taken pics too. This one is elaborately done, but kind cool:
Lots here: https://www.instagram.com/mclarenf1ownersclub/

Edited by hyphen on Friday 2nd June 08:59

[flemke]

Rich_W said:

flemke said:

and I have not yet found the need to travel in a convoy of pretentious rich people. I can read a map myself, I don't want to sleep in a castle, and I'd rather have a good burger and a root beer than filet mignon and a 1982 Chateau-du-Bullsheet.

Harsh!

Do you not count any of the people there as, well I say friends, but maybe strong acquaintances might me more accurate?


Slight O/T have you ever met Erik/Peleton25?

I'm guessing he's more into the F1 than even the Factory. And does he potentially know more about your car than even you?

Acquaintances, yes, but of present F1 owners on that tour, I cannot think of any whom I would call a friend. I have close friends who have been owners, but they have sold their cars.

I have not met Erik face-to-face, but we have had a number of private correspondences over the years.
The answer to the question of who knows more - Erik or the factory - will in part depend on the type of information being considered. Erik obviously knows a huge amount, but there are things that people at the factory know that it is very unlikely Erik would know.
Saying that, the overall institutional knowledge of the factory is something of a moving target. Their personnel come and go over time, and a lot of this stuff is not written down.
With no disrespect to Erik, I am fairly confident that I know more about my car than he does. I have had it for 16 years, and the person who sold it to me is one of my best friends: thus I am in a position to know pretty much everything relating to it since it left the factory. If Erik could tell me who put the coating on my car's front lower control arms, I would be impressed.

[flemke]

hyphen said:

flemke said:

and I have not yet found the need to travel in a convoy of pretentious rich people. I can read a map myself, I don't want to sleep in a castle, and I'd rather have a good burger and a root beer than filet mignon and a 1982 Chateau-du-Bullsheet.

You may have a point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzopqXAfGO/?taken-by=...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzbttrAyic/?taken-by=...

Lots of number plates in photos so had a look at the mot online, a fair few appear to not have an mot at present- are they trailed there, as assumed it was a driving tour?

Obviously I wouldn't know the logistics of every car, but quite a few were indeed transported in trailers from the factory to the Continent. Most of those cars would not be going back to the factory after the tour.
Fwiw, the insurance underwriters limited the number of cars that might be carried in any single transport vehicle.

[flemke]

BenjiA said:

Anyone one who has followed this thread for a few years knows Flemke has good reasons for keeping a low profile. His shared thoughts on the machinery I can only dream of driving are cherished. Thank you for resuming after the issues you had.

It has been a pleasure. Cheers.

[flemke]

BenjiA said:

I suspect that a picture of flemke outside of his car would not help to identify him, to most of us. We should all be aware that having one's identity stolen is a risk and it can be very painful, so we should minimise that risk, if we can.

flemke, as I have finally put my head above the parapet on this thread after being a long time reader, is there anything recent you have driven that you have liked? I suspect something like the M2 might have been to your taste (but obviously not perfect). Have you driven a golf R?

I haven't had the time or opportunity to drive many different cars recently. There are a few recent cars that potentially interest me, such as the 911R and new Ford GT, but I have not driven them.
I have not driven a Golf R. You like it?

[flemke]

Mikeeb said:

flemke said:

No specific plans for summer drives. At the moment the interior of my car is being retrimmed; not sure how soon it will be finished - they do great work, but McLaren are not known for always being the quickest to get a job done.

Unless I missed it (entirely possible) I don't think you'd previously mentioned that your were having the car re-trimmed. I recall you weren't happy with the colour you chose following the rebuild. Can I ask what the new scheme is?

Thanks

The centre of the passenger seats will be in a dark purple-blue that I found. We're doing those seats first. After they are finished and in the car, it will be easier for me to experiment with different possible schemes for the driver's seat. The driver's seat will almost certainly include some of the same purple-blue material, and potentially some white as well.

[Adrian E]

Joe911 said:

Regarding the MOTs - you need an MOT in your home country to drive the car legally abroad, or not?

The ultimate test is whether the vehicle is 'roadworthy' at any specific point in time, in the country in which it is stopped, against their local requirements - any illegality over its use with no UK MOT would only apply in the UK, if under its own power, so trailer/transporter isn't an issue. Having a valid UK MOT might help in insurance terms, as some companies have terms requiring an in-date MOT, but it's rare and no indication of roadworthiness at the time of an accident anyway.

Lots of UK registered cars that spend time overseas when their MOT expires should ideally book an MOT and drive straight to it (although no limit on how far!) in order to comply with C&U/roadworthiness regs on their return, but you'd be doing well to get pulled for it unless passing ANPR and it triggering a response at the roadside.

[Rich_W]

Joe911 said:

FFS, both of those pics are just shameful.

1st one. Excessively poncy!
2nd. Well I'm wincing, but I'd like to know the reason for that. Hooligan or otherwise?


Normally on these tours someone bins one, seem to have avoided that this year, so maybe people are being more sensible. I always got an impression it was getting a bit GumballRally

[hyphen]

flemke said:

The centre of the passenger seats will be in a dark purple-blue that I found. We're doing those seats first. After they are finished and in the car, it will be easier for me to experiment with different possible schemes for the driver's seat. The driver's seat will almost certainly include some of the same purple-blue material, and potentially some white as well.

Look forward to some pics when it is finished.

Is it the factory doing it, or a 3rd party trimmer?