Murray and Stevens
Although some sports racers had been converted for street use in the past, the F1 was McLaren’s first serious attempt at creating a road car.
It was thought up by South African Gordon Murray (pictured), who had previously designed cars for the Brabham and McLaren Grand Prix teams.
The body was made of carbonfibre, an unusual material for a road car at the time but one McLaren was very familiar with, since it had been using the stuff for its racing cars since 1981.
The exterior shape and the interior design were by Peter Stevens, whose work also includes the Jaguar XJR-15, the second-generation Lotus Elan and several Rovers and MGs.
Honda influence
Murray owned a first-generation Honda NSX for several years and admired its practicality, comfort, ride quality and handling. He considered the NSX a benchmark for the kind of car he wanted to create in nearly every respect.
There was one exception: he was looking for much more power. Since there was already a link in Grand Prix racing between McLaren and Honda, Murray asked the Japanese if they would consider building a 4.5-litre V10 or V12 engine for the F1, but was turned down.
BMW engine
Instead, the F1 used a BMW engine. This was a 6.1-litre V12 similar in basic design to a smaller united used in the BMW 8-Series but with different cylinder heads, variable valve timing and a dry sump oil system.
The engine produced a maximum of 627bhp despite having no turbochargers or superchargers. In the interests of reliability and driver control, Murray didn’t want them.
Three seats
Right from the start, Murray wanted the F1 to be a three-seater. The driver sat in the middle of the car, which was the best place for both visibility and balance, and also meant that the F1 didn’t have to be converted for sale in different markets.
Another plus point was that the pedals were nowhere near the front wheelarches, so they could be placed immediately in front of the driver rather than offset.
The passenger seats on each side were mounted slightly further back than the one for the driver, which again helped with visibility.
Pricing
The Autocar test was held in 1994. At that time, the UK price for the F1 was £540,000, roughly the equivalent of £750,000 today.
Although this is a lot less than Bugatti has charged for some of its cars, it’s still a hefty sum.
To Autocar, though, it didn’t seem excessive considering how good the F1 was. The last sentence of its road test article read, “If we had the money, we’d form a queue.”
Reluctant racing
The F1 was intended to be the ultimate road car, and to begin with McLaren had no intention of using it for competition.
That soon changed, though, thanks to customer demand. Several teams competing in sports car racing realised that the F1 could do very well in motorsport if sufficiently modified, and asked McLaren to do this.
The result was the F1 GTR, which was manufactured from 1995 to 1997. During this time 28 were built, almost exactly a quarter of total F1 production.
The GTR was intended only for racing, though some examples were converted for road use. Its lighter weight and various modifications made it quicker than the standard car, though oddly enough it was actually less powerful. Intake air restrictors demanded by the regulations meant that the maximum power output dropped from 627bhp to around 600.
Le Mans win
The race programme reached its climax in the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hour event. Six teams entered seven F1 GTRs, five of which finished. One, driven by Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya and JJ Lehto, finished first, a whole lap of its nearest rival, while others came third, fourth and fifth.
A lot of history was made that day. This was McLaren’s first Le Mans victory at its first attempt, and Sekiya and Lehto were respectively the first Japanese and Finnish drivers to win the race.
F1 LM
McLaren celebrated the Le Mans success by building six special versions of the F1 called the LM. One was a prototype, while the others represented the five cars which finished the race.
An aerodynamic package reduced the top speed, though this was still well over 200mph. By other measures, the LM was much faster than the standard F1 thanks to its increased downforce, reduced weight and derestricted race engine.
The LM was painted Papaya Orange in tribute to the company’s founder, New Zealand racing driver and builder Bruce McLaren, who favoured this colour.
In 1999, after production had stopped, Andy Wallace drove an F1 LM from 0-100-0mph in just 11.5 seconds at RAF Alconbury.
F1 GT
The last F1 model was the GT, which was created as a road car so that the 1997 version of the GTR could legally be raced.
These cars differ visually from other F1s in several ways, most obviously that they have longer tails to improve the aerodynamics. The single prototype was followed by two customer cars.
The F1 today
McLaren built 106 F1s between 1993 and 1998 and has not built another since. It certainly hasn’t forgotten the car, though. There are currently three facilities in the world, including McLaren Special Operations in Woking, dedicated to servicing F1s annually.
It’s not a simple process. Each service involves driving the car hard on a test track as well as checking the suspension and replacing the fluids, filters and wiper blades. Every second service also involves work on the CV joints, coolant system and air-conditioning.
The fuel tank has to be replaced every five years, which is quite a job in itself because it involves removing, and of course later replacing, the engine and transmission.
The newest of the service facilities was opened in Pennsylvania in December 2017. McLaren never officially exported the F1 to the US, but believes that more than 20 of the cars have ended up there.
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