Two spectacular McLarens from the same collection ...
Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,
Purely designed as a road car, the legendary McLaren F1 did remarkably well on the racing track. With hardly any performance enhancing modifications, the F1 took an outright victory in 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the following seasons, it faced ever stronger competition from cars that were conceived as racing cars from the ground up. To catch up, the original McLaren F1 GTR was completely revised for the 1997 season. Known as the F1 GTR Longtail, it featured a longer wheelbase, modified engine and a completely different body kit. Run by BMW Motorsport, the 1997 McLaren took four outright victories in the FIA GT Championship. At Le Mans the cars finished first and second in class and second and third outright behind a Porsche/TWR prototype racer. At the recent Modena Trackdays we got a closer look of one of the BMW Motorsport team cars. It is now owned by a German collector and historic racer. At the Nürburgring, he completed many laps in his beautiful F1 GTR Longtail.
Also present at the Modena Trackdays and owned by the same collector was this McLaren MP4/1B. As the name suggests, it was a development of the revolutionary MP4/1 introduced halfway through the 1981 season. Designed by John Barnard, it was the first ever carbon fiber Formula 1 car. Shortly after its debut, it scored McLaren's first victory since 1977. The renewed success was made possible by Ron Dennis, who had taken over at the ailing British team at the end of the 1980 season. In MP4/1B guise, it was even more successful with Niki Lauda and John Watson winning two races each. Watson and McLaren finished second in their respected championships. The car was eventually developed into the all-conquering, Porsche engined MP4/2. The featured MP4/1B was one of the cars used by Niki Lauda in 1982 and has been meticulously restored to its original configuration.
Enjoy the links:
1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail - Images, Specifications and Information
1982 McLaren MP4/1B Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information
Regards,
Wouter Melissen
If you should see a man walking down a crowded street talking aloud to himself, don't run in the opposite direction, but run towards him, because he's a poet. You have nothing to fear from the poet - but the truth.
(Ted Joans)
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