McLaren F1 chassis
McLaren F1, chassis 011, was displayed at McLaren Beverly Hills where the staff generously permitted me access to the car. In the hopes that many more enthusiasts would benefit from that, I thought I should film this video highlighting the features and details of the car. It's a very rare opportunity and I feel very fortunate to be able to share these views and some unique elements of the F1 with a wider audience.
For the basics, chassis #011 was built early on in the F1's production run in 1994 for a UK owner who chose to have it painted in "Carbon" which was a dark metallic grey. In 1998 it was sold to its second owner who had the factory upgrade the car with the optional High Downforce Kit. This Kit adds several enhancements to the car including the new front valence with carbon fiber splitter, front wheel arch flares, and an elevated carbon fiber rear wing borrowing from the parts bin of the F1 GTRs and F1 LM. It also features changes to the suspension and in most cases will also includes the fitment of the 18" 5-spoke OZ wheels we see on this car. One year later that same owner had the car resprayed and retrimmed to the spec we see today, again with that work carried out by the McLaren Customer Care department which we now know as "MSO". It's one of 8 F1 road cars that presently wear the High Downforce Kit and arguably one of the most stunning examples of this mythical supercar. As noted in the video, it was acquired by its current US owner in June 2003 at a Christie's auction in London for just over $1M USD - quite the bargain compared to the more than $20M price tag it might command today if it were for sale.
Please note that I filmed this using Instagram Live and was responding to viewers comments/questions throughout the video, so the context of a couple of my comments might seem a bit odd. Also I know that I committed the cardinal sin of filming this in portrait mode which would not have been my intent if I'd planned to share it here on YT originally. Ultimately I decided the value of preserving this content for the future on this platform outweighed that concern, but accept my apology for that.
For those watching this video who may not be familiar, I've spent about 20 years focused on learning as much as possible about these truly wonderful cars - their development, production, and the individual histories of each specific chassis. I've had the extremely good fortune over those years to be in the presence of just over half the 106 McLaren F1s produced. The experiences I've had with these cars has far exceeded any expectations I could have had, and is thanks to many considerably generous individuals along the way. I still have many more things to learn so the crusade continues, but if the video leaves you with any additional questions please use the comment section and I'll do my best to provide you with an answer.
** I do need to issue one small correction - when I mentioned the torque spec for the F1's wheel nut, I incorrectly stated 400Nm. It is actually 600Nm, or approximately 450 lb-ft.