The
McLaren F1, introduced in 1994, holds a unique performance car record. The record is that the F1 successfully retained the record for the fastest street legal and production car for eleven years. A remarkable achievement indeed. Especially when considering the advances made in performance car engineering during that period.
The peak of the McLaren’ s F1 achievements as a track car was almost certainly in 1995, with the entry of no less than seven
McLaren F1 GTR's being entered in the famous LeMans 24 Hours race. At the end of this classic, the McLarens had taken the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and thirteenth places in the overall category, and the first four places in the GT class, a first in racing history for a debut car. Knowing that is how legends are created,
McLaren never raced their GTR’s again.
The
McLaren F1 eventually lost its title to the Swedish built
Koenigsegg CCR, who subsequently gave up the title to the 2005
Bugatti Vevron just a few months later. The current holder of the faster production car title is the
Shelby Super Car Aero, estimated to be capable of achieving a top speed of 257 miles per hour (413 km/h) When we consider that for all these years, the
McLaren F1 held the record with a maximum speed of 240 miles per hour (400 km/h) , it was truly a car ahead of its time in many aspects.
A total of only 107 F1’s were ever produced, and only 64 of these ever saw the street, with a further five being special Le Mans versions to celebrate winning the event in 1995, two more were GT’s and the remaining 28 were F1 GTR racing models bearing the GTR badge. Production of the model actually began in 1992 and was eventually wound up in 1998. Yet plans for
McLaren to produce a road car ware laid down in 1988, when the owners of the British
McLaren Group who were riding on the wave of unprecedented success as the World’s most successful
Formula One racing team of the year, decided to take up the challenge of producing the World’s most powerful production car. The were the first company to realize the benefits of the lightweight yet really strong composite materials on the market, and all that was new in the aerodynamic styling to allow the F1 to take maximum advantage of the exceptionally powerful engine they had planned to install in the car.
McLaren also decided to break away from the tradition of a Spartan interior, and equipped the F1’s cockpit with every accessory as a standard. The car’s interior was relatively luxurious, finished in leather combining and coming with such svelte accessories as its own matching luggage and a fabulously all inclusive titanium tool kit. To suit driving on either sides of the channel as well as in the UK, the F1’s driving seat was placed in the center of the cockpit for ideal weight distribution, with the possibility of two passenger seats being place on either side. while this made entry and exit a little harder work for the driver, there were not too many complaints, as the benefits seem to far outweigh the negative aspects.
The 1994
McLaren F1 was fitted with a
BMW built and
McLaren modified rear placed 6.1 liter 12 cylinder engine providing almost 630 horsepower. This was the kind of power that would allow a GTR to reach 0-6- miles per hour in 3.2 seconds and reach a top speed of 240.1 miles per hour (400km/h).
From 1994 onwards to will when the car went out of production in 1998,
McLaren continued to hand produce the car, with constant minor modifications and tweaking to improve performance, sometimes in the face of legislation to reduce maximum driving speed and reduce body weights.
There is little question that the 1994
McLaren F1 was a care ahead of its time, and holds a special place in the annals of performance car history.
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March 30, 2008, 5:01 am
