Back in the 90s when this car came out, every car manufacturer was fighting for the title of fastest car ever made. McLaren changed all that, when they came out with the McLaren F1. This car came with a roaring V12 engine designed by BMW that produced 629hp and a top speed of 240mph. The fastest speed of its time. This car only came with 106 total units made for the entire world and it held the title of fastest car produced for an entire decade before anyone beat their top speed record. Today the average asking price for a McLaren F1 is somewhere within the range of $25,000,000 and $30,000,000. This car is loaded with many interesting features and facts, but here are just a few of them.
As the McLaren team was trying to figure out how to make the fastest car, a group of McLaren representatives test drove several cars to see how they could be better, of those cars was the Acura NSX. McLaren had tested all types of sports cars and was most impressed by the car’s ability to stay so stable with so much power. After much debating, McLaren asked Honda, which owns Acura, to build the engine for their car, but Honda refused. After countless attempts and negotiations made by Mclaren to try and get Honda to build their engines, they finally gave up and asked BMW to build their engine. BMW gladly accepted and was made part of one of the most historic cars ever made. Ever since, BMW has had a good market in selling their own sports vehicles due to their involvement with the McLaren F1.
The McLaren F1 is a 3-seater car with only one row of seats and two rear-view mirrors. This car was designed to be a practical car and so, they added a third seat. The set up of the car is very unusual though, putting the driver’s seat in the center of the vehicle while putting a passenger on either side of him. This design element was used to give the driver a wider range of view and to make the car seem more toss able.
McLaren used carbon fiber everywhere on this car. Carbon fiber reduced hundreds of pounds of unnecessary weight. When putting together this car, they realized that the engine was too powerful and would get too hot causing parts of the carbon fiber to start to melt. McLaren resolved this issue by lining the engine cover with 1lb of real gold to keep the cars heat from being released to other areas of the body work.
The McLaren F1 was all about saving weight, so the seats are all fixed in place. That’s right, to reduce additional weight, they avoided using power seats and manual seats, instead you have to get measured and pick where you would like the seat to be. Then they blot it into the place of your preference. Also, the gas pedals and brake pedals are also moved according to your height along with the measurement of the seat to make sure you can reach the pedals safely. McLaren knew that these cars would be traded to several owners and decided not to make the seat adjustment permanent meaning that if you bought one, you would take it to a dealership and have them rearrange the seat for your liking.
This historic car was one of the greatest cars ever made. It featured insane statistics that are still impressive to this date. The McLaren F1 is an important piece in automotive history and helped bring about how cars are designed and built today. It was the fastest, the strongest, and today it is the most desirable car out there.
If you enjoyed reading this, please like, follow, and leave a comment below!
2 thoughts on “The McLaren F1 is the Greatest Supercar of its Time”