Flemke - Is this your McLaren? (Vol 5)
Discussion
hondafanatic said:
thegreenhell said:
hondafanatic said:
SpeckledJim said:
Someone should do an NSX short tail!
I often thought that but, and I could as I often am wrong, but on this thread (not sure what vol.) flemke (I think) showed a side profile of an NSX against a ‘short tail’ version. It looked so wrong.
I didn’t expect it to look wrong but it really did. Made me realise how little I had an eye for design.
As said...I could have imagined the whole thing and I’m talking total b
ks. Wouldn’t be the first time nor the last. chris333 said:
Just to help along the discussion on the NS-X rear overhang, here's a slightly shorter one:
personally, I'm sticking with Honda's design.
personally, I'm sticking with Honda's design.
What do you think Speckled Jim? Or have you been eaten and we deny everything?
I'd agree with the doubtful, to be honest.Is there a halfway house version. I'm pretty sure the original is a bit too long, but I'd agree that one is a bit too short. Maybe if the front overhang was compressed to match...?
I appreciate this could cost upwards of £600 in a decent bodyshop.
Just watched Eriks (Peloton25) video on YT
https://youtu.be/H75K-SsuoB8?t=23m22s
Flemke. He hasn't seen any cars with high mirrors yet.
Surely when you relocate he'll get his wish one day.
https://youtu.be/H75K-SsuoB8?t=23m22s
Flemke. He hasn't seen any cars with high mirrors yet.
Surely when you relocate he'll get his wish one day.
Rich_W said:
Just watched Eriks (Peloton25) video on YT
https://youtu.be/H75K-SsuoB8?t=23m22s
Flemke. He hasn't seen any cars with high mirrors yet.
Surely when you relocate he'll get his wish one day.
i would try to arrange that, although I don't know that I would have the car on the West Coast, so it might take some work to get done. Of the five cars that he mentions, two are already in the States, on the East Cost. Also, I probably won't take the car over until it is 25 years old in the summer of 2020. At that point it would not have to go through the palaver of Show or Display certification. https://youtu.be/H75K-SsuoB8?t=23m22s
Flemke. He hasn't seen any cars with high mirrors yet.
Surely when you relocate he'll get his wish one day.
It occurred to me during that video that if it was being made by anyone other than PT, (or his predecessor D) or the team that actually built the car in the 80s/90s I'd be wondering if there were factual errors in the video.
As it's Erik, it's almost certainly spot on!
I do wonder if he won a daft American Lottery jackpot whether ownership of an F1 would dilute or enhance his attraction to the car.
Amazed at the Mexico car being "lost" since the early 2000s. I can only presume that it's owned by an incredibly wealthy individual, with whom it is difficult to get face time with, and would probably prefer if any buyer paid in used cash!
As it's Erik, it's almost certainly spot on!
I do wonder if he won a daft American Lottery jackpot whether ownership of an F1 would dilute or enhance his attraction to the car.
Amazed at the Mexico car being "lost" since the early 2000s. I can only presume that it's owned by an incredibly wealthy individual, with whom it is difficult to get face time with, and would probably prefer if any buyer paid in used cash!
Rich_W said:
It occurred to me during that video that if it was being made by anyone other than PT, (or his predecessor D) or the team that actually built the car in the 80s/90s I'd be wondering if there were factual errors in the video.
As it's Erik, it's almost certainly spot on!
I do wonder if he won a daft American Lottery jackpot whether ownership of an F1 would dilute or enhance his attraction to the car.
Amazed at the Mexico car being "lost" since the early 2000s. I can only presume that it's owned by an incredibly wealthy individual, with whom it is difficult to get face time with, and would probably prefer if any buyer paid in used cash!
Thanks for the link; I was unaware of the video. As it's Erik, it's almost certainly spot on!
I do wonder if he won a daft American Lottery jackpot whether ownership of an F1 would dilute or enhance his attraction to the car.
Amazed at the Mexico car being "lost" since the early 2000s. I can only presume that it's owned by an incredibly wealthy individual, with whom it is difficult to get face time with, and would probably prefer if any buyer paid in used cash!
Minor observations on it:
- Steering wheel not exactly an "upgrade". What happened was that for the production car Gordon specified a steering wheel the diameter of which was a bit too small (as he himself subsequently agreed). Most people were happy to leave the original wheel as is, because it was original, because it is beautiful, because it feels very comfortable in one's hands, and because most of them weren't driving their cars much anyhow.
A couple of customers requested a bigger wheel, however, and McLaren decided to offer an alternative. The problem was that the law (or at least their interpretation of it) did not allow them to offer another wheel unless it had been type-approved for road use. Another snag was that the original wheel was made by Nardi, and the Nardi bolt pattern is different from the more common pattern used by for example Momo. McLaren were not inclined to go through the hassle and expense of engineering from scratch a whole new wheel and instead selected one with a slightly larger diameter that already existed within the Nardi line.
When I got my car it had one of those larger wheels. It is better from a leverage and control point of view, but it is ugly as sin and is uncomfortable in one's hands. Whatever inspired Nardi to make it is the first place is a mystery.
This was why I decided to get a different wheel of the correct diameter. I asked McLaren if they could have Nardi make the original design in a larger version. Nardi took forever to get back to them. Nardi's response was that, because this "new" model would have to be type-approved, to produce and sell one for a road car would involve testing to confirm that upon impact it would deform sufficiently. McLaren told me that what Nardi proposed to charge for this one wheel was so much that they were embarrassed to give me the quote, but that the cost to McLaren, before their own mark-up and VAT, would be more than £100,000 (and this was in 2003).
After a lot of looking around, including having a larger replica of the original made up from scratch, I decided to use the wheel from the 993 RS, and I have been very happy with it.
I still have that horrible chunky Nardi replacement wheel, along with a few of the originals that I somehow picked up along the way.
- Wheel nut torque 600 Nm.
- In the video Erik closed a door with the window down. When I got my car I was advised not to close the door when the window was down, as on at least one occasion someone slammed a door closed and derailed the window.
- Odd that the current American owner would have retained the front British reg plate, which would not be legal in the States. By coincidence, either that plate (or F1 MCL, I can't remember which) was first on my car when it was new.
- Under braking the brake flap rises at road speeds above 40 mph. It stays up for about 3 seconds after the brake has been released.
ferrisbueller said:
Warning; left field reference incoming:
Always wondered about the influence of the MG EXE on NSX (and vice versa) given the collaboration between the two companies and the timing.
apparently no link at all. The MG was styled in house & the NSX predecessor (the HPX) was styled by Pininfarina. All 3 are very pretty cars.Always wondered about the influence of the MG EXE on NSX (and vice versa) given the collaboration between the two companies and the timing.
http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/honda-hp-x-198...
Rich_W said:
flemke said:
... Odd that the current American owner would have retained the front British reg plate, which would not be legal in the States. By coincidence, either that plate (or F1 MCL, I can't remember which) was first on my car when it was new. ...
Cheers.
Perhaps not appropriate to ask, or even answer, but do you ever hear anything about Ron and how he is getting on since leaving.
I only wonder as he is portrayed at being so obsessive and passionate about everything he built, and after the somewhat acrimonious departure, I wonder whether he has managed to relax into a retirement or throw himself into another project.
I'm aware of his charitable work, and also his association with the government for overseas trade (could be interesting with brexit looming) but i wonder how much active involvement he has in either of these.
I only wonder as he is portrayed at being so obsessive and passionate about everything he built, and after the somewhat acrimonious departure, I wonder whether he has managed to relax into a retirement or throw himself into another project.
I'm aware of his charitable work, and also his association with the government for overseas trade (could be interesting with brexit looming) but i wonder how much active involvement he has in either of these.
Edited by Swampy1982 on Saturday 5th January 10:34
Turns out you can buy a model of his car which he's signed.
I heard an interview with him a while back where he was involved with a company that was developing technology for people with back problems.
https://youtu.be/Dh2iQSU9DJE?t=1h46m4s
Longer interview. Well worth a listen if you have the time. People knock him, but I wish I had his vision and drive at the age he developed his! Fully agree with his views on Social Media. I hope he does write an autobiography in due course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh2iQSU9DJE
Obviously it's public knowledge that he's building a very modern new house in Surrey.
https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/121390/...
Edited by Rich_W on Saturday 5th January 12:38
hurstg01 said:
Not as many as some who get to see them everyday, but for a normal bloke I’d say more than most - It’s in the low to mid 50’s nowadays. I think 25 x GTR’s and the rest are road cars. I’ve been very fortunate and have made good friends with some of the Owners over the years
Excluding people who work or have worked at McLaren, Greg, I think your number must be at, certainly very near, the top. I have not kept track of my number, but I guess it would be in the same range as yours, perhaps with fewer GTRs and more road cars. I have seen that many only because I have the advantage of having been at MSO/MTC/Genesis I think more often than any other customer has been, and that has been only because for 18 years I have had numerous reasons to go McLaren and it has always been a short trip for me. Saying that, there are some F1s that even McLaren are not sure what has become of, and a larger number that never see the light of day and have not been to Woking for many years. I doubt that anyone who was not there during the entirety of production has seen all the cars (a few of which, of course, no longer exist), and going forward it's not likely that anyone ever will.
Maybe a complete obsessive could make it his life's work to see them all, and with enough effort most things are possible, but in the normal course of events even the most committed fan would struggle to get close to hitting 100%.
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