The McLaren F1 is a motoring legend. First produced in 1992, it is a car of giddying numbers and many technical innovations.
For example, it was the first production road car to have a complete carbon fiber monocoque chassis. And because McLaren was so obsessed about performance, the car also used gold foil as a heat shield in the exhaust compartment.
Furthermore, because the optimal driving position was in the center of the car, that was exactly where McLaren positioned the driver's seat. And even with the unorthodox sitting position, the McLaren F1 was actually quite practical because it has two passenger seats positioned slightly behind on both sides of the driver’s seat - this effectively makes it a three-seater.
(Image source: McLaren)
Gordon Murray, the chief engineer, insisted on a V12 engine for the McLaren F1 and turned to BMW, who provided McLaren with a 6.1-liter V12 that produced 627hp and 651nm of torque. Considering the McLaren F1 weighed just 1,138kg, this was enough to propel it to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds - a time that still remains very, very respectable today.
But perhaps the McLaren F1’s biggest achievement is that with its top speed of 391km/h, it held the record for fastest production car for about seven years - until it was dethroned by the Bugatti Veyron in 2005. Even today, it remains to be the world’s fastest naturally aspirated production car.
2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the McLaren F1, and to commemorate the occasion, McLaren has released never-before-seen footage of Le Mans winner Andy Wallace pushing the McLaren F1 to the limit at the incredibly long Ehra-Lessien test track and hitting a staggering 391km/h.
Watch history being created in the video above.
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