Flemke - Is this your McLaren? (Vol 5)

[Peloton25]

The details of the Speedtail owner's reveal were released already by a few owners. It's an evening event held in London on October 12th.

Strangely they could have moved that date up by a bit more than one week and then shown the car to the rest of the world via the Paris Motor Show which runs from Oct 4th thru the 14th.

>8^)
ER

[portland12345]

Yikes.

I got one more McLaren F1 question....


What is the rim offset on the standard rims (17x9 and 17 x 11.5) ?

[Ali2202]

So many McLaren and so little time.

As with Ferrari, any vestige of subtlety and class almost lost.

Heritage, my ar5e!

[flemke]

Rich_W said:

flemke said:

I wouldn't know about this specific Williams, or the Pagani, but it is standard practice for Formula One teams to have an outside supplier make up a bunch of "chassis" each year out of glass reinforced polyester (rather than carbon-fibre) and lacking any metal or other parts that would not be visible from the exterior. Many of the dealer showroom and sponsor cars that are used for public display are complete fakes.

I wonder if that was the case with the IIRC Senna Marlboro car hanging at Genesis all those years ago?

(Can't find a pic online, but its in Driving Ambition IIRC)

I used to know the answer but have forgotten - sorry. Certainly it would have had the engine/transaxle removed.

[flemke]

SydneyBridge said:

Flemke,
Have you previously said that you one of the lucky 106 on the list for a Speedtail?

If so, when are the 106 likely to see the final design ?

I am on the list, yes. They are going to have a private "reveal" in October, although it is not clear yet exactly what they will be revealing - renderings/models or a full-sized, three-dimensional object.

[flemke]

CanAm said:

And what about the name? " ..... a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet" etc.
But it doesn't inspire me.

That makes two of us. "Speedtail" sounds like the name of a fish.

[flemke]

Rich_W said:

having seen todays "teaser launch trailer"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF4LrazQnTw


I remain baffled by whoevers running McLarens Automotive's PR department

The Senna reviews are only just out there, but already they've unveiled 600LT (launched at Goodwood FOS), so still fresh in peoples minds. So instead of milking the LT for a bit, they move straight to a new car that is apparently sold out. So you cant order it anyway.

And then the vid shows us even less than the teaser pics from ages ago.



So why not show us a proper teaser nearer the time?

I have no idea. I have said before that it seems that the operating mentality is that if they make great products, how they handle the rest of the business will (kind of) take care of itself. I don't agree with that, but one gets that sense.
The concept of taking half-million pound, non-returnable deposits off people for something that not only will they not receive for three years but they won't even be allowed to see so much as a drawing of it until a couple of years after they have paid the non-returnable deposit seems dubious at best.

[flemke]

Peloton25 said:

The details of the Speedtail owner's reveal were released already by a few owners. It's an evening event held in London on October 12th.

Strangely they could have moved that date up by a bit more than one week and then shown the car to the rest of the world via the Paris Motor Show which runs from Oct 4th thru the 14th.

>8^)
ER

I believe that they do not intend to reveal any images to the public until some time after the private showing. It won't be a matter of just a few days.
That is not to say that there won't be some jerk who tries surreptitiously at the reveal to take photos on his phone in order to post them on the internet.

[flemke]

portland12345 said:

Yikes.

I got one more McLaren F1 question....


What is the rim offset on the standard rims (17x9 and 17 x 11.5) ?

Why would that matter to you, or to anyone? Your series of detailed questions makes it seem like you are building a replica. That would be fine, but easier if you just said so.

[flemke]

Ali2202 said:

So many McLaren and so little time.

As with Ferrari, any vestige of subtlety and class almost lost.

Heritage, my ar5e!

The guys at MSO who are involved with F1s are first class. That's what matters to me.

And at MTC the cookies are good.

[portland12345]

flemke said:

Why would that matter to you, or to anyone? Your series of detailed questions makes it seem like you are building a replica. That would be fine, but easier if you just said so.

Far from that.

I am making video game version of the F1 for simulator game. As hobby project nothing else. The more real data I can gather the more realistic end result it.

Apologies if this is far away from what this thread is about.

[Hammer111]

McLaren has been saying there will be 106 of these Speedtails built, same number as the F1. But that 106 for the F1 included destroyed prototypes and by my count 4 cars McLaren never sold. Are they following the same? Or will this be xxx/106 customer cars + X prototypes + Y crash tested vehicles + Z Cars Mclaren keeps + well we know what they've done recently.

Cheers!

[flemke]

portland12345 said:

flemke said:

Why would that matter to you, or to anyone? Your series of detailed questions makes it seem like you are building a replica. That would be fine, but easier if you just said so.

Far from that.

I am making video game version of the F1 for simulator game. As hobby project nothing else. The more real data I can gather the more realistic end result it.

Apologies if this is far away from what this thread is about.

Okay.
Distance from inside edge of rim to centre flange (flat surface that bolts against outer face of hub) is roughly 170 mm front and 245 mm rear.

[Peloton25]

Hammer111 said:

McLaren has been saying there will be 106 of these Speedtails built, same number as the F1. But that 106 for the F1 included destroyed prototypes and by my count 4 cars McLaren never sold. Are they following the same? Or will this be xxx/106 customer cars + X prototypes + Y crash tested vehicles + Z Cars Mclaren keeps + well we know what they've done recently.

Cheers!

There will be 106 production Speedtails sold and delivered to customers. From what I have been told, they have committed that they will not refurbish/resell the prototypes of BP23 as they have done in the past with cars like the P1. Time will tell if they stick to that plan, and also the suggestion that there will be no additional variants of BP23 forthcoming.

One should assume they would keep one of those prototype units for themselves, and that's okay because the F1's spare chassis often causes people to count the total number of F1s inaccurately at 107.

>8^)
ER

[flemke]

Peloton25 said:

Hammer111 said:

McLaren has been saying there will be 106 of these Speedtails built, same number as the F1. But that 106 for the F1 included destroyed prototypes and by my count 4 cars McLaren never sold. Are they following the same? Or will this be xxx/106 customer cars + X prototypes + Y crash tested vehicles + Z Cars Mclaren keeps + well we know what they've done recently.

Cheers!

There will be 106 production Speedtails sold and delivered to customers. From what I have been told, they have committed that they will not refurbish/resell the prototypes of BP23 as they have done in the past with cars like the P1. Time will tell if they stick to that plan, and also the suggestion that there will be no additional variants of BP23 forthcoming.

One should assume they would keep one of those prototype units for themselves, and that's okay because the F1's spare chassis often causes people to count the total number of F1s inaccurately at 107.

>8^)
ER

I'll trust them on this one after say a decade has passed since the official end of the production run.

In Flewitt's letter to depositers, he wrote that McLaren would not be building a spider version of the BP23 because certain engineering issues made that impossible.

What he did not say was, if McLaren's engineers were miraculously to solve those engineering issues, whether McLaren would then consider themselves at liberty to make a spider version - of course, purely in response to "customer demand", not because McLaren were interested in making a bunch of free money by spreading the fixed costs over more units.

[Peloton25]

flemke said:

I'll trust them on this one after say a decade has passed since the official end of the production run.

Yes, their "say what you do/do what you say" track record has been rather poor over the last 7 years or so.

>8^)
ER

[richomk6]

flemke said:

I'll trust them on this one after say a decade has passed since the official end of the production run.

In Flewitt's letter to depositers, he wrote that McLaren would not be building a spider version of the BP23 because certain engineering issues made that impossible.

If the aim is to build a car that is supposedly faster then the F1 then the likes of a spider version might not be possible if you're aiming for those type of speeds. I'm actually more intrigued about this car then the Senna as it sounds like its more about top speed then how much cornering ability it has which seems to be the focus of most manufacturers these days.

I do share your reluctance to accept that they won't build more then the 106-at least with the F1 the extra road cars on top of the base model weren't over the top (The longtail GT being needed for homologation and if you win Le Mans outright one can understand if you build five extra cars to celebrate). These days its a bit different..

With your name on the list I hope the car lives up to your expectations when the final design is unveiled.

[CanAm]

flemke said:

CanAm said:

And what about the name? " ..... a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet" etc.
But it doesn't inspire me.

That makes two of us. "Speedtail" sounds like the name of a fish.

If ever there was a case for a badge-delete option, this is it.
I would happily pay extra for it. Well perhaps not happily, but I'd certainly prefer to pay more rather than have "Speedtail" written on my car.

[PAUL500]

flemke said:

I have no idea. I have said before that it seems that the operating mentality is that if they make great products, how they handle the rest of the business will (kind of) take care of itself. I don't agree with that, but one gets that sense.
The concept of taking half-million pound, non-returnable deposits off people for something that not only will they not receive for three years but they won't even be allowed to see so much as a drawing of it until a couple of years after they have paid the non-returnable deposit seems dubious at best.

Well I guess for the elite few that have that chance then it is a no brainer, as so far its been guaranteed free money when the car arrives as is instantly worth far more than they paid for it!

Plus no doubt its also a sure fire way to end up on the next money go round list of elite buyers for the next car as well.

Edited by PAUL500 on Friday 27th July 09:48

[flemke]

TurboTerrific9 said:

flemke said:

Peloton25 said:

Hammer111 said:

McLaren has been saying there will be 106 of these Speedtails built, same number as the F1. But that 106 for the F1 included destroyed prototypes and by my count 4 cars McLaren never sold. Are they following the same? Or will this be xxx/106 customer cars + X prototypes + Y crash tested vehicles + Z Cars Mclaren keeps + well we know what they've done recently.

Cheers!

There will be 106 production Speedtails sold and delivered to customers. From what I have been told, they have committed that they will not refurbish/resell the prototypes of BP23 as they have done in the past with cars like the P1. Time will tell if they stick to that plan, and also the suggestion that there will be no additional variants of BP23 forthcoming.

One should assume they would keep one of those prototype units for themselves, and that's okay because the F1's spare chassis often causes people to count the total number of F1s inaccurately at 107.

>8^)
ER

I'll trust them on this one after say a decade has passed since the official end of the production run.

In Flewitt's letter to depositers, he wrote that McLaren would not be building a spider version of the BP23 because certain engineering issues made that impossible.

What he did not say was, if McLaren's engineers were miraculously to solve those engineering issues, whether McLaren would then consider themselves at liberty to make a spider version - of course, purely in response to "customer demand", not because McLaren were interested in making a bunch of free money by spreading the fixed costs over more units.

I might be barking up the wrong tree here but it’s hard to correlate your mistrust for McLarens sales practices and the fact that you keep, effectively, coming back for more?

At this point I know not to trust what Flewitt says, but that doesn't mean that his company cannot make a great car. I don't take literally any stated or implied limit on the ultimate build numbers of a given model, but rather I assume that the number built will be greater than we're told, and on that basis try to assess whether the car is worth the money.