McLaren
October 19th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Now that McLaren’s MP4-12C is a finished product on sale in it’s new global sales network the company is already involved in its next project. The new car in development is the successor to the now legendary McLaren F1. If reports from the UK prove true the first prototypes of this much anticipated machine are already being tested in various regions of Europe.
Nicknamed the Mega Mac, the new F1 is ambitiously being built to beat all other performance exotics that are available right now including the top dog Bugatti Veyron. Ferrari, Porche and Pagani aren’t running scared just yet but they are certainly on alert. To beat the pack McLaren is looking at a 5.0-litre V8 powertrain similar to the MP4-12C’s motor, it will be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and produce a power output of around the 600kW mark. Read the rest of this entry »
September 7th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Bizarre Ford GT40 Spyder
Winner: Clyde Rowlands, Whangarei
Scalextric McLaren MP4-12C
Winner: Nigel Morrison, Christchurch
August 27th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
After such a promising latter part of the 1969 F3 season, Hamiltonian Howden Ganley needed to move up a grade in 1970 – which meant Formula 2, or the new Formula 5000…
Bruce and Patty McLaren’s neighbour Barry Newman hadn’t been a motor racing enthusiast – but he soon became one, to the extent that the businessman became an entrant with and owner of a McLaren M10B. That model’s predecessor, the M10A, had won the inaugural British F5000 championship in 1969, but McLaren was not about to rest on its laurels and produced the improved ‘B’ with, among other changes, redesigned suspension, re-styled body fairing, an aluminium radiator, and changed wheel sizes. McLaren would produce 21 M10Bs (on top of the 17 M10As) and a deal was hatched between Bruce and his neighbour to run one for a man whose name is interwoven into the early years of McLaren.
Howden Ganley had worked as a mechanic in the early days of Bruce’s eponymous team, and was at Monaco when the first F1 McLaren debuted. He spent much of the last three years of the ’60s towing his F3 car around Europe, earning starting money, and learning race craft. He finished 1969 as one of the best F3 drivers, and his former boss saw an opportunity to give a promising fellow Kiwi a chance. Howden recalls, “The way I got the drive was that Bruce had noticed my progress in F3 so asked me to go to Goodwood for an F1 test. That led to his decision to put me in a works F5000 car. Bruce guaranteed to find a sponsor and he came up with Barry.” Read the rest of this entry »
August 15th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
‘Fake it till you make it’ is how the contemporary saying goes and for one Russian man faking it, did in fact mean making it.
This amateur Russian car builder loved the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR that he couldn’t live without one, so hand-built a replica for himself. Little is known about this one-off machine but there are rumours that under the aggressive shell is Lada running gear. There is no word on what, if any powerplant hides under the long bonnet but it certainly has a post-apocalyptic charm and the side exhaust pipes are nicely worked too.
Apparently the car is named Valentina after the builders wife , but it’s unknown if the wife is a real woman or did he just build her using a photo of Anna Kournikova. It’s a mystery.
August 8th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
In the world of Formula 1, a new year means a new set of cars to start the season. This means there are a long line of old racing vehicles left behind as the F1 road show keeps rolling on. Some of these cars are split up for parts, if the car won the championship it is usually kept as a show piece. But not all of them, and not this very special racing machine.
Following Ayrton Senna’s famous win of his third and final title in 1991, McLaren decided against keeping his car in its museum and dismantled it and sent some of the parts to an artist named Jay Burridge. The artist then transformed his pieces of the famous car into the art installation pictured above. Designed to look like a giant model kit, it would be a striking piece of art regardless of what donor car was used, but its more impressive for its famous heritage. Read the rest of this entry »
July 23rd, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
THIS COMPETITION HAS EXPIRED
Despite the continuing onslaught of computer-based motor racing games, Scalextric’s brand of hands-on, table-top racing continues to grow in popularity helped, no doubt, by the staggering range of models now available.
New to the range this month is a lovely slot-racer version of the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally class-winning MGB, bound to be popular amongst classic racers. On a more modern note, Scalextric has also just released a model of the new McLaren MP4-12C finished, of course, in McLaren’s famous shade of orange.
Single-seater fans are also catered for with two very special, limited edition models – Jim Clark’s 1967 Lotus 49 is from Scalextric’s Collectors Club range and only 1500 units will be made. This beautifully built model is well-detailed, but you’ll need to be quick if you want to own an example – the NZ entitlement is very small. Read the rest of this entry »
June 21st, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Today is a big day for McLaren Automotive as it will open the doors for the first time on its new flagship showroom in London.
Located at One Hyde Park, the striking new sales space is the first of a wide network of 35 dealerships planned in over 19 countries around the world. The UK will receive two other McLaren outlets in Birmingham and Manchester, other locations in Europe include Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Zurich and, of course, Monaco.
The McLaren network then stretches to North America with the USA receiving the most outlets including Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Newport Beach, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, while in Canada, Toronto gets the honours.
In the Middle East there will be dealers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Qatar, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. South Africa gets a dealership in Johannesburg and finally the Asia/Pacific region gets five, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney,Tokyo and Osaka. Read the rest of this entry »
June 20th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The man credited with designing the much-loved McLaren F1, Gordon Murray has just unveiled his latest creation – the new Batmobile.
Built for the Batman Live World Arena Tour in the UK, Murray’s Batmobile has been met with harsh criticism after not meeting the expectations of caped crusader fans.
Clearly built for high-speed rather than heavy armour, this Batmobile has a jet-inspired fuselage and advanced cabin that fails to appeal. It’s body is made of a new type of “breathing” carbon fibre and has some familiar finned styling. The virtual wheels are ringed with LED lights and other fantasy features include a radar jammer, laser cannons and a carbon-ceramic afterburner.
In terms of power, Batman is covering his green bases with the new Batmobile powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion batteries.
View Murray’s original sketch in the gallery below and a short video clip of the controversial new Batmobile. Read the rest of this entry »
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