"McLaren"...Must See For Racing Fans

[HHP]

Just watched "McLaren" on Starz and it was fantastic. The documentary follows Bruce McLaren from his early days in local New Zealand races to his spectacular success in F1, LeMans, Group 7, and Indianapolis.

One of only two people to win a Formula 1 race as a driver of a car that carried his name. Youngest ever Formula 1 winner for 44 years. His cars went 11 for 11 in the Can-Am series. Pioneer in the field of exotic material and aerodynamics. All before his untimely death at the age of 32.

Interviews and film of the people who were with him from the beginning. One testament to Bruce McLaren as a person was that his friends and family, even 40 years after his death, can barely talk about his passing without breaking down.

If you have any interest in racing, or just stories of people who accomplished great things from small beginnings, this movie is a "must see".

[PorkPieGuy]

I posted something about VinWiki a while back (I don't think anyone replied), but if anyone is interested in what it's really like to own a Mclaren, I think this guy does a pretty good job describing what it's like to keep up with the maintenance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsKDGdcb6BQ

[HHP]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

I posted something about VinWiki a while back (I don't think anyone replied), but if anyone is interested in what it's really like to own a Mclaren, I think this guy does a pretty good job describing what it's like to keep up with the maintenance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsKDGdcb6BQ

The guy comes off to me like a dope. What did he think he was getting?

Saw an interview once with a guy that owns Mario Andretti's Lotus John Player Special that he won the F1 championship with. He said for every 1 hour on the track, he would have 100 hours of maintenance.

Bruce McLaren had no formal engineering education but could design and build world championship cars. His early ones were built in a dirt floor garage. Today's McLaren Formula 1 cars probably need millions of dollars of maintenance every two weeks during the season.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by HHP

Just watched "McLaren" on Starz and it was fantastic. The documentary follows Bruce McLaren from his early days in local New Zealand races to his spectacular success in F1, LeMans, Group 7, and Indianapolis.

One of only two people to win a Formula 1 race as a driver of a car that carried his name. Youngest ever Formula 1 winner for 44 years. His cars went 11 for 11 in the Can-Am series. Pioneer in the field of exotic material and aerodynamics. All before his untimely death at the age of 32.

Interviews and film of the people who were with him from the beginning. One testament to Bruce McLaren as a person was that his friends and family, even 40 years after his death, can barely talk about his passing without breaking down.

If you have any interest in racing, or just stories of people who accomplished great things from small beginnings, this movie is a "must see".

Trailer looks interesting.

Just the other nite I watched an Amazon Prime Docu-series , called "Grand Prix Driver" this first one is about the problems Mclaren had been having recently with the Honda engine

[HHP]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Trailer looks interesting.

Just the other nite I watched an Amazon Prime Docu-series , called "Grand Prix Driver" this first one is about the problems Mclaren had been having recently with the Honda engine

Somewhat ironic that McLaren's 1st formula 1 car was equipped with an underperforming Ford Indy Car engine and their huge success came when they partnered with Honda.

The Can-Am cars never had such woes as the aluminum block 8.8 liter Chevrolet engine was a monster.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by HHP

Somewhat ironic that McLaren's 1st formula 1 car was equipped with an underperforming Ford Indy Car engine and their huge success came when they partnered with Honda.

The Can-Am cars never had such woes as the aluminum block 8.8 liter Chevrolet engine was a monster.

The slings and arrows of F1, apparently they are dropping Honda and going with Renault for 2018 ?

[HHP]

Originally Posted by KevWind

The slings and arrows of F1, apparently they are dropping Honda and going with Renault for 2018 ?

Yes, Renault this year. Based on pre-season testing, not a lot of room for optimism.

[Ozzy the dog]

More irony as the Honda has proved quite reliable in the Torro Rosso whilst McLaren suffered continued woes in testing.

I do hope Mclaren can get back to where they belong.

[jpd]

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by HHP

The Can-Am cars never had such woes as the aluminum block 8.8 liter Chevrolet engine was a monster.

Many years ago I went to a 'speed event' staged at a small country airfield.
Nice wide runway, cars ran down a measured length similar to drag racing.
A McLaren Can-Am car did a solo run.
Easily the most powerful car I've ever seen in my life.
Fish tailed the entire length through every gear change.
The earth moved.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Many years ago I went to a 'speed event' staged at a small country airfield.
Nice wide runway, cars ran down a measured length similar to drag racing.
A McLaren Can-Am car did a solo run.
Easily the most powerful car I've ever seen in my life.
Fish tailed the entire length through every gear change.
The earth moved.

The rules for that series were simple. No rules. No limit on displacement or configuration.

My father worked for Reynold's Aluminum in Richmond, VA. He called me one day to come over to their campus as McLaren and Hulme, along with a couple of Mk 8 cars were there. Reynold's was a big sponsor and helped develop the engines.

A friend and I went over and while we looked at the cars in the lobby, McLaren and Hulme came by and we got to meet them.

When my Dad got home that night, he told us we left too early. In the afternoon, they closed off both ends of the 3/4 mile driveway and they were running the cars up and down the property. My father said windows were shaking 100yds away from the drive.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by HHP

The guy comes off to me like a dope. What did he think he was getting?

Saw an interview once with a guy that owns Mario Andretti's Lotus John Player Special that he won the F1 championship with. He said for every 1 hour on the track, he would have 100 hours of maintenance.

I don't think the guy is a dope; I honestly think he DIDN'T know what he was getting.


I'm way too much of a country boy to ever understand the appeal of any of this, but I do find it interesting. People sure do funny things with their money.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

I don't think the guy is a dope; I honestly think he DIDN'T know what he was getting.


I'm way too much of a country boy to ever understand the appeal of any of this, but I do find it interesting. People sure do funny things with their money.

He did mention the previous owner paid $250,000 for the paint job. Who buys a McLaren F1 and worries about the color?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

I don't think the guy is a dope; I honestly think he DIDN'T know what he was getting.


I'm way too much of a country boy to ever understand the appeal of any of this, but I do find it interesting. People sure do funny things with their money.

Yes people do indeed do funny things with their money. Perusing this forum and noting some of the guitar lists makes that fairly clear

And I completely understand not having the desire to spend money on better performance. And while I really like high performance auto's , I personally would not spend the money for a Mclaren or a multi high dollar guitar collection for that matter .

But being a country boy myself (whatever that actually means ) personally I don't think has much to with understanding the appeal of "this". or not.
Some of the good ole' boys I grew up with were always tinkering with and spending all their money on their muscle cars or pickups, to eek yet more performance out of them.
Because "this" is the quest for performance, and is not qualified by budget dollar amount. It is fairly irrelevant to the appeal itself , weather you spend $1,000 or $100,000, the quest is the quest.