Full Throttle Car of the Week #1 – The McLaren F1

For the first ever Car of the Week I have decided to choose a car that has set a legendary legacy and has had a huge impact on the car community ever since it’s release in 1992. It was designed by a man called Gordon Murray who, since 1969, had been obsessed with the idea of a 1 + 2 seating arrangement. On the 28th of May 1992, his dream became a reality and was revealed to the public. 

Only 106 units were built between the years 1992  and 1998, when the F1 was released it was the only road legal car that was capable of going well over 200 mph. The engine in question that assisted the F1 to get to these incredible speeds was the world renowned 6.1L BMW S20/2 V12 engine that was wrapped in a 24k gold foil. The F1 produced 618 bhp and 650 lb ft of torque. It came with a transverse 6-speed manual gearbox with a AP carbon triple plate clutch located in an aluminium housing. The F1 had a 0-60 of 3.2 seconds which was UFO speed back in the 90s for road cars and even by today’s standards, that is incredibly quick.

Multiple world records were broken by the McLaren F1, one of which being that it set a record of 240 mph. This meant that the F1 was officially the fastest car in the world, in turn annihilating the Jaguar XJ220’s feeble 217 mph. There is another world record that the F1 still claims today, which is the fastest naturally aspirated car in the world. Do I think that it will be toppled? The simple answer is no and that is because the world has moved on from big naturally aspirated monsters to smaller turbocharged engines for the purpose of being more fuel efficient, another factor needs to be taken into account here is that the world is rapidly converting all ICEs to EVs meaning that it is highly unlikely the F1 will ever be toppled. It will stay Top Dog. Am I sad about this revelation? No I am not sad as I can live with the fact that this incredible piece of engineering will stay at the top for all eternity and I firmly believe that the F1 has the right to a dignified retirement such as that. 

The F1, from new, cost $800,000 to $1,000,000, which was an extortionately huge figure for the time. Now the F1 can fetch anything up to £15 Million, some even selling for being higher. Many celebrities have owned an F1 including the famous British Actor, Rowan Atkinson who infact crashed his F1 twice after only 41,000 miles. Other famous people namely: Jay Leno, Nick Mason, George Harrison, Elon Musk, Ralph Lauren, Lewis Hamilton, the Sultan of Brunei, along with many others, all owned F1s at some point and it’s easy to see why this car is so attractive to the buyers, it’s a good looking 240 mph hyper car that will thrash anything in a race whether it be on track or race between the lights. 

It certainly deserves it’s place in the Automotive Hall of Fame, where it shall lie peacefully knowing that it performed admirably and represented what can be done when a team of people embark on what appeared to be an impossible mission. 

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