How many actual Mclaren F1 cars built?

When i recently looked on the Mclaren's Website they said they built a total of 100 Mclaren F1 cars including GT, LM, GTR etc. but today when i looked on Wikipedia.org they claimed Mclaren made 107 F1 cars and i was just wondering which number was correct? Thanks Brad

the big poster that comes with Driving Ambition also states 107 incl prototypes and street and race.

So 107 then:-)

but then again, there were probably more and some unaccounted chassis that were destroyed we dont know about :shakehead

but then again, there were probably more and some unaccounted chassis that were destroyed we dont know about :shakehead


If the chassis was unaccounted for the later destroyed, the point of their existance is moot, becuase they were never made into cars.

From what I know, there were 100 McLaren F1 cars built. This included all of the street cars, and all of the racing derivitives. In addition to these 100 production cars there were 7 prototypes built that were not F1s. The prototypes had names from XP1 to XP7, here the 107 count.

There were in total 106 complete cars and one spare chassis to make for the 107 figure. Those are the published numbers direct from the Chassis History poster included with "Driving Ambition". McLaren likes to say there were 100 cars because it just sounds nicer that way I guess. Whats silly is that to do that they disregard the 5 F1 road car prototypes, along with the F1 LM prototype, but they include the F1 GT prototype. :screwy:

Here's a pretty complete breakdown by year that I put together some time ago:

McLaren F1 Total Production:

7 Prototypes = 5 F1 road cars (XP1-XP5), one F1 LM (XPLM), and one F1 GT long tail road car (56XPGT)

64 road cars - Normal versions with "Short" bodywork - note that some of these cars have since been converted or may have been originally delivered with the 'High Downforce LM-kit'. The F1 road car chassis numbers are 001-075, skipping 019, 026, 027 (those three were replaced by the first three GTRs), and 030, 032, 034, 035, 041 for unexplained reasons.

28 GTRs (racecars) - This includes the 9 '95-spec GTR's (#01R-#09R), the 9 '96-spec GTRs (#10R-#18R), and the 10 '97-spec long tailed GTRs (#19R-#28R). Again - many of these cars have since been converted by the factory for road use, but that doesn't change their original designation as GTRs.

5 LMs (LM1-LM5) - These were lightweight and more powerful road cars -- 2336 lbs vs. 2495 lb, 668/680 bhp and 520 lb/ft versus 627 bhp and 479 lb/ft for an F1 - based on the 1995 F1 GTR. The LMs were constructed to commemorate the F1 GTR's fantastic results in their debut at the 24Hrs of Le Mans in 1995, where 7 GTRs took part with 5 completing the race -- finishing 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th. A sixth GTR retired in the 8th hour due to a crash and the seventh retired a little less than halfway through the race with clutch failure.

2 F1 GTs (54F1GT & 58F1GT) - These were road cars with "Long" bodywork similar to 1997 GTR racecars.

1 Spare Chassis

TOTAL: 107

Breakdown by year -

1992 = XP1

1993 = XP2-XP5, 1 F1 road car

1994 = 24 F1 road cars

1995 = 15 F1 road cars, 9 '95-spec F1 GTRs, 1 '96-spec F1 GTR, F1 LM prototype 'XPLM'

1996 = 7 F1 road cars, 8 '96-spec F1 GTRs, 5 F1 LMs, 1 '97-spec GTR long tail

1997 = 9 '97-spec GTR long tails, 11 F1 road cars, F1 GT prototype '56XPGT', 2 F1 GTs

1998 = 6 F1 road cars, 1 spare chassis

To make the numbers more clear by model, including prototypes:

69 F1 road cars
28 F1 GTRs
6 F1 LMs
3 F1 GTs
1 Spare Chassis
- - - - - - -
107 in total

If there were other cars made outside of those numbers that information has not come out yet from any credible source.

>8^)
ER

Ah i see thanks very much!!

From what I know, there were 100 McLaren F1 cars built. This included all of the street cars, and all of the racing derivitives. In addition to these 100 production cars there were 7 prototypes built that were not F1s. The prototypes had names from XP1 to XP7, here the 107 count.
There was no XP6 or XP7. There were two test mules, one being an Ultima chassis, the other I can't remember. These don't count as McLaren chassis.

Peloton, others, what was the other test mule chassis?

I was wondering this question myself. Thanks guys.

There was no XP6 or XP7. There were two test mules, one being an Ultima chassis, the other I can't remember. These don't count as McLaren chassis.

Peloton, others, what was the other test mule chassis?

Both test mules were based on Ultimas, one called "Albert" which was fitted with a large American V8, and the other "Edward" which was fitted with the first S70/2 V12 delivered by BMW. As you suggest, neither car was given an "XP" designation.

There's a page on the two cars here on the Ultima website:
http://www.ultimasports.co.uk/history/mclaren.html

>8^)
ER

awesome break down on the cars Peloton

Very intresting about the Ultima testmules , have`nt seen this before.

Very intresting about the Ultima testmules , have`nt seen this before.

They're both covered in Chapter 11 of "Driving Ambition" which is entitled "The Heavenly Twins".

'Albert' was used to evaluate if carbon brakes - something that Gordon desperately wanted to include on the F1 - could be developed for road use. Another thing that car was used for was to prove the center-seat concept for the driver was viable. So that this feature wouldn't be given away should someone spot the car leaving the McLaren factory, the car employed a swinging steering column and swing seat that could be moved to the center of the car at the test track, and back again for the drive home. Carbon brakes were tested and re-tested, but a suitable set could not be developed in time. The center seat proved to be great though and of course that made it to production.

'Edward', as you can see from the photos, was the first car to be fitted with the BMW V12. The major push here was passing the emissions tests on the engine as well as durability testing on the engine/transmission combination. They also tested the split-nose radiator setup with this car, but fed them via a large center opening so as not to give anything away too early on that either.

The best part of the chapter - and something you won't find mentioned on the Ultima website - is this quote:

Like so many decent chaps 'Albert' was very useful, but plug ugly. Gordon: "Ron in particular, I think, utterly detested the thought that such a thing could be in any way involved with McLaren."
:lol2:

>8^)
ER

Hope its not too off topic, but whats the deal with this red GTR? I'm assuming that it falls under the GTR category, but how come it doesn't have a usual sponsor-covered livery?

http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/images/cars/F1%20GTR97/RLAUP18_B.jpg

This is F1 GTR #10R - the first 1996 F1 GTR that McLaren Cars produced. It was used as a development and test car for McLaren that year, but outside of being used for LeMans pre-qualifying by one team, it has no official race history.

This was the car's original look, but it didn't wear this livery for very long - apparently the bosses at McLaren weren't too fond of the red/yellow. The "GTR" stickers came off and the wheels were repainted, but the Blood Red paint has stuck with it through the years.

http://a7.cpimg.com/image/BB/48/33706427-d777-028001A1-.jpg

For the Wallpaper-sized versions of this photo, click on the size that you want below:

1600 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/96gtr_1600.jpg) - 1200 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/96gtr_1200.jpg) - 1024 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/96gtr_1024.jpg) - 800 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1/96gtr_800.jpg)

The current owner of this car is Nick Mason, the drummer from the band "Pink Floyd". This car was loosely converted for road use by McLaren prior to being sold to Mr Mason, however, it still retains the FIA mandatory roll cage built into all GTRs, and the GTR control board that occupies the right side footwell, rendering this F1 a 2-seater.

An interesting fact about how Mr. Mason acquired this car is that apparently he had a car in his collection - an old McLaren Formula One car I believe - that he knew Ron Dennis was looking to add to his personal collection. He approached Ron with the offer to sell that car in order to make the connection so that he might purchase an F1 from Dennis. Apparently the plan worked in his favor. :cool:

>8^)
ER

haha, you continue to amaze me... got any wallpapers of the #10R without all that yellow nonsense? thanks...

Not really... :(

I did make these two recently, but the quality is rather dodgy considering they were made from enlarged scans. Better than nothing I guess. :dunno:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_RL010A_L.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/RL010A_L.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_RL010B_L.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/RL010B_L.jpg)

This is a nice photo too - would be even better if I made the "DO NOT TOUCH" sign disappear, and better still if that fence wasn't there:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/th_goodwood05countyshow05050.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/McLaren%20F1%20C/goodwood05countyshow05050.jpg)

>8^)
ER

Pulled up our most recent discussion on Edward to add these two gems:

http://img151.imagevenue.com/loc346/th_72152_MAC_LAREN_F1_PROTO_MOTEUR_1_122_346lo.JPG (http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=72152_MAC_LAREN_F1_PROTO_MOTEUR_1_12 2_346lo.JPG) http://img163.imagevenue.com/loc503/th_72264_MAC_LAREN_F1_PROTO_MOTEUR_2_122_503lo.JPG (http://img163.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=72264_MAC_LAREN_F1_PROTO_MOTEUR_2_12 2_503lo.JPG)

Thanks to crotale on SFC.com :cool:

>8^)
ER

Hmm I was at the 2005 Goodwood festival and took a few pictures of Mr Masons car. Left my contact details and he actually got in touch with me. Have been trying to set up an in depth meeting with his car for a prolonged photo session but we are having trouble getting a mutually agreeable date

Anyone know what they did with the spare chassis?

McLaren still has it. If a car ever gets crashed badly enough to need it, and the owner is willing to foot the bill, that's how it will get used. Until then, it will sit in storage.

Intersting I just assumed they would just build a new one from the original tooling if ever a replacement was required following their original claim that it was a car for life. If it needed anything replacing they just made new parts as and when required since they claimed almost everything was made to order anyway. In truth we now know that more than a few parts were infact borrowed from other manufacturers or suppliers.

Well, they would be essentially building a new car if they were to use the spare chassis. And I think they would have to fabricate a whole bunch of new carbon fibre panels if it came down to having to use the spare chassis.

I don't know what chassis number any such creation would bear. It's a bit of a grey area as to what constitutes a new car or a repaired one, when you replace the central tub. How would you determine it? Number of new parts? Cost of new parts? Owner's whim? Factory production criteria?

Well if you look at Lotus I have replaced chassis in a couple so if you replaced the body mouldings at the same time you could still use the original chassis number so long at you replaced the chassis plate on your new chassis.

A McLaren is built slightly differently...the tub is the car, essentially. Pretty much everything hangs off the tub. The Elise would be close, but other Lotuses are not comparable.

I see where you are comming from but so long as you reafix the chassis plate to the new body tub it effectivley replaces the old tub. This would be entirely possible because the original tub would be in an irepearable state anyway and would naturally be destroyed.hence no rick of there being 2 with the same number. I build a new XJ12 Coupe some years ago with a new factory monocoque and all I did was precisely this the only legal requirement was that I provide proof of the destruction of the old body shell.