McLaren F1 LMs in the USA?

GTR-016

slimline victorian plate, looks really good

 

God that gulf liveried car looks hot. The harrod's car is cool b/c of the history.

--Dan

 

05R and 07R

 

wow that yellow and green looks HOT.

 

Thanks Kelsa - great info and if you have any photos to share, well...

Sure thing - look for my next post once I get through this response.

The differences you see are based on the year of production - and even then some of the cars transformed over the years as they were developed further.

To expand on that comment:
The 1995 GTRs were not all that far removed from the F1 road car, with most changes being made to satisfy the governing bodies for the series they woud race in. Gordon had originally said that the compromises the F1 would have being developed as a true road car would make it an unsuitable racer, however two of McLaren's customers - Ray Bellm and Thomas Bscher (current President of Bugatti) - both began pressing McLaren to build them a racing version for use in the BPR series. They recognized the potential the car had against other competitors such as the Ferrari F40 and Jaguar XJ220s which were already competing in 1994, and threatened to do it on their own if McLaren wasn't interested.

Ron Dennis set the development budget for the initial GTRs from the profit of selling just five examples - hardly a great sum of money. Gordon spent just one day in the wind tunnel to work out the GTRs original aero package, setting the wing position and profile, adding an underfloor diffuser and side skirts. Later on these items would be updated and the nose of the car in particular received many subtle changes over that first year, with some cars receiving the updates and others not. All the GTRs (except #01R) were privately owned so when McLaren Cars would identify an improvement or update, the teams all had to pay McLaren Cars to refit the car with it. In some cases like the Gulf GTC team, I believe they went with each one that the factory offered, whereas other teams ran on a tighter budget.

The vents on top of the nose which you see on #07R were originally fitted to all the early 1995 GTRs, but of the seven that arrived to compete at LeMans later in the '95 season only two (#05R and #07R as mentioned by Kelsa) still had them. I believe I read once that they are there to feed air to the front brakes, but weren't aerodynamically efficient in doing this, thus the need for a change. GTR #05R ditched them sometime in 1996 due to a nose change following a crash, leaving #07R as the only remaining 1995 GTR to still wear them today.

For 1996 McLaren delved much deeper into GTR development. I forget how many changes were made, but although the cars appear almost identical from the outside the changes made (mostly for weight reduction) were quite significant. Not wanting to alienate the previous year's customers, they offered an update package to bring the earlier cars closer to the spec of these new '96s and two GTRs (#03R and #06R) run by Dave Price Racing bought into that and also chose to develop some of their own updates for the '96 season. This again explains why some of the GTRs look different, and others look different at different times of their life. The Gulf GTC team actually replaced their 1995 GTRs with new 1996 models during the off season.

By 1997, all but one of the 1995 GTRs had been retired from any major racing involvement and I think that final car was just in it for the fun as it was no longer all that competitive.

>8^)
ER

 

Here are more photos of the longtail road car known as the F1 GT. With only three examples ever being constructed its nearly impossible to find any good photos of this car. Also, it's tough to tell whether we have seen photos of the black one (54F1GT) or not, as the green one (56XPGT) often appears black in many shots.

I posted this shot of it earlier in the thread, but here it is again as it's one of the best:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/SuperCars-65.jpg

The first two shots come from a display at Silverstone in 1997. The car was posted with a plaque that read:

For additional photos of the Burgundy GT, check the links at the bottom of this post.

For those not fully aware, the F1 GTs were created to satisfy homologation requirements of the FIA for the new longtail GTRs. To include a quote from Driving Ambition:

Opinions on the looks of the GT model vary widely. Some hate it and others love it. My own opinion is that I appreciate it for what it is and why it was built, but it would not be my first choice if I was purchasing an F1. It seems based on another caption found in Driving Ambition that my lack of love for the design of the GT was shared by others who were closer to the project:

Enjoy the pics and let me know if the limited info I have provided sparks any additional questions about the GTs.

>8^)
ER
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OMG.. those pics of the Longtail GT's are just incredible.. especially the rolling shots..

 

did someone here say they own a McLaren?
does any one in south fl. own one

if u ..or u know someone who does ..PLEASE PM me

 

I know there are some on this forum who are close friends with a few F1 owners, but I don't think there are any real owners who actively post.

The only F1s I knew of in Florida have been sold in the past year. One was Wyclef Jean's #022 and the other was Jim Clark's #024. Your closest F1 that I am aware of now would be in the collection of Bruce Weiner in Atlanta, GA.

>8^)
ER

 

Who bought Jim Clark's? Is it now in NY?

It took me a long time ot warm up to the McLaren shape, but I still can't get my head around the aesthetics of the F1 GT. No doubt it's a brilliant racecar, but I'd still be all over a 95 GTR.

--Dan

 

Yes, Jim Clark's is now in New York with the owner of chassis #045 and former owner of the yellow #014 that was sold through SVAG.

What we don't know is who has ended up with Wyclef's F1. I suspect given the white interior and polished wheels that whoever purchased it may have wanted to have the car refitted, so it could be back in England having that done. However, if it was someone who appreciated Wyclef's tastes, maybe the car has been left alone.

>8^)
ER

 

Wait, Gary Schaevitz bought Jim Clarks' F1? So who bought Seth Neiman's car? And who is the new owner in SD of Cliff's car?

--Dan

 

Mr. S has both Seth's and Jim's cars. We haven't put a new name to 028 yet (Cliff's old car)

 

Why purchase two silver cars? Seems odd.

--Dan

 

Maybe he likes silver?

Why purchase three red/tan cars?

 

Ah, but you didn't buy 3 of the same. Besides, we're all painfully aware of how insipid you can be! Happy 1st!

--Dan

 

Yet...

 

What about Don Wallace's #073?

 

Ahh yes - I'm getting forgetful in my old age. I guess there is an F1 in Florida still. Thanks for keeping things straight.

And #024 is silver, whereas #045 is dark silver (almost titanium). Both are excellent examples of the F1 and for someone that may really like the car, why not?

>8^)
ER

 

why is wyclef selling his cars? have his interests moved on or is he not as big as he was.

 

It's a good question, and probably one that can really only be answered by him. I think he may be increasing his charitable contributions by eliminating some of his status symbols. Fair enough...

>8^)
ER

 

i dont know about you guys but if a got my hands on a Mac F1, id never let it go...

 

Do you know if anyone is Las Vegas owns an MF1? If so, who?

 

I'm not aware of any in Las Vegas. There are a few that wander in and out of Colorado from time to time, but none live there permanently. That's about as close as it gets.

>8^)
ER