MCLAREN F1

The McLaren F1 was engineered and produced by McLaren Automotive, a subsidiary of the British McLaren Group that, among others, owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. The car features a 6.1-litre 60� BMW S70 V12 engine and it was conceived as an exercise in creating what its designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car. Only 100 cars were manufactured, 64 of those were street versions, 5 were LMs, 3 were GTs and the rest were GTR racing models. Production began in 1993 and ended in 1998.
The McLaren F1 was the fastest production car ever built (having achieved a top speed of 240.14 mph, 386.5 km/h) until surpassed in 2005 by the Koenigsegg CCR, and then the Bugatti Veyron a few months later.

McLaren F1 Specifications:
Make and Model: McLaren F1
Year: 1994
Engine Type: 6.1 Liter V12
Torque: 479.2lb-ft@5600rpm
Acceleration 0-60: 3.2 s
Suspension: Double Wishbones w/Light Alloy Dampers, Co-Axial Coil Springs
Wheel Base: 107.001 inches
List Price: $890,000
Horsepower: 627bhp@7400rpm
Top Speed: 231 mph
Brakes: ventilated
Transmission: 6 Speed Manual
Weight: 2509.3 lbs

Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fiber, titanium, gold and magnesium. The F1 was one of the first production cars to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis.
The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from the fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988; Murray drew a sketch of a three seater supercar and proposed it to Ron Dennis. Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, "Albert" and "Edward", the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes. Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".
The car was first unveiled at a launch show, 28 May 1992, at The Sporting Club in Monaco. The original prototype (XP1) remained the same as the production version except for the wing mirror which, on the XP1, was mounted at the top of the A-pillar. This car was deemed not road legal as it had no turn signal indicators at the front; McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's, were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors). The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which other car manufacturers would adopt several years later.
The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times. The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched.