Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Racing
When you think about all of the truly iconic supercars that have been produced throughout history, not many carry the same mystique and world-renowned praise as the McLaren F1. Exactly 20 years ago, a team of engineers and designers came together in an attempt to build the automaker’s vision of “the finest sports car the world had ever seen.” And even though the official F1 road car was not launched until May 1992, McLaren is celebrating 2010 as the 20th anniversary of the F1 project. After all, this car changed how the world thought about lightness, packaging and supercar design.
Over the course of four years, McLaren produced 64 F1, five F1 LM and three F1 GT road cars, along with 28 F1 GTR racers and six test prototypes. At the end of its lifespan in 1998, the F1 became the world’s fastest production car, and while that title is now reserved for the almighty Bugatti Veyron, the McLaren still holds the record for fastest naturally aspirated road car. (Tricky, tricky!) Beyond that, the ʽ garnered a healthy amount of respect for dominating Le Mans – these cars took first, third, fourth, fifth and thirteenth place at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as winning that year’s GT1 championship.
McLaren Automotive celebrated the F1’s 20th anniversary by inviting owners, past and present, to a dinner at the automaker’s technology center in Woking, England, which included a display of 21 road and race F1s. Looking to the future, McLaren will begin production of the MP4-12C supercar, followed by an entire range of performance cars, all built in-house. Will any of these new creations be able to hold a candle to the iconic F1? Only time will tell, but for now, we raise our glass to the original McLaren F1. Three cheers, indeed.
Follow the jump to read more about the ʽ and the 20th anniversary celebration in McLaren’s press release.
Gallery: McLaren F1 20th Anniversary
[Source: McLaren Automotive]
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McLaren Automotive celebrates 20 years of the pulse-quickening F1 supercar originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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