Classic cars with history: McLaren F1

One of my favourite cars and an absolute beauty that even today still holds its own among the elite, even though it went on sale almost 15 years ago. Pretty remarkable. It seems time has stood still for it.

Designed and built by McLaren Automotive, the car is powered by a 6.1-litre V12 engine from BMW. Only 100 units were produced, including 5 prototypes, 64 road cars, 5 LMs, 2 GTs and the rest GTRs, or racing models. Production began in 1993 and ended in 1998.

In its day the McLaren was the fastest production car in the world, reaching a top speed of 386.7 km/h and surpassing the Jaguar XJ220, until in 2005 the Koenigsegg CCR beat it, and a few months later the Bugatti Veyron did the same.

The F1 was one of the first cars to use a carbon fibre chassis. Gordon Murray, the engineer in charge of the design, wanted a high-performance supercar, and to achieve it he had two ideas in mind: low weight and plenty of power. To do so, he used cutting-edge technology and expensive materials, such as the aforementioned carbon fibre, titanium, gold and magnesium. For example, the engine, a BMW S70/2, is insulated from the exhaust by a gold heat shield. The amount of gold used in each car was about 25 g.

The road version of the car produces 627 CV, with 651 Nm of torque at 5,600 RPM. Other models could get up to 692 CV out of the engine. The engine’s revs are limited to 7,500 RPM. It can go from 0 to 100 km/h in about 3.2 s, and reaches around 370 km/h. Even today it remains one of the fastest models on the roads. The car’s weight came to a light 1,138 kg, compared with the 1,888 kg of the Bugatti Veyron.

Several versions of the car were produced: the standard F1, the F1 LM in honour of Le Mans, and the F1 GTR, the racing model. The LM is the fastest version of the F1. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.9 s. This model is also easily identified by its Papaya Orange paint. The three photos in the article are of this model. That colour was chosen as a tribute to Bruce McLaren, who raced in those colours.

For me, one of the most beautifully designed cars of all those that exist. As beautiful as any, and sadly, as exclusive as many others.

More information | Wikipedia