For a short break from all of the stories of unsolved murder and missing people on this subreddit, I bring you the story of an automotive treasure hunt.
The McLaren F1 is considered by many to be one of the greatest cars ever made. With only 106 cars produced from 1992-1998 the F1 is also one of the rarest and most valuable modern super cars with examples going for $10-20 million USD at auction.
Due to its racing heritage and prestige as the fastest production car for much of the 1990s and 2000s, the F1 has developed quite a large following not just among owners but car enthusiasts in general. There is a very dedicated group of car spotters who have taken it upon themselves to keep track of the 106 cars and their often famous owners. None of these cars are quite as mysterious as chassis #039.
Chassis #039 began life as a 1996 model built for McLaren founder and CEO Ron Dennis. The car featured a rather unique combination of a Brazilian Brown Metallic exterior and a red leather interior. Dennis’s wife Lisa was reportedly unhappy with the color combination and refused to allow her husband to take delivery of such an ugly car. Dennis instead took delivery of a more palatable silver car numbered #050. #039 was apparently sold to another buyer in the UK where it remained for some time.
From here things get foggy. Around 2004, photos of a Brown McLaren F1 in Culiacan Mexico (according to license plates seen on other cars in the photos) were uploaded to the website ExoticSpotter. It’s unknown when the photos were taken but most comments place them in the late 90s to early 2000s. The post gained little attention outside of local Mexican circles until 2007 when a thread on the mysterious brown McLaren popped up on automotiveforums.com. The post attracted attention from F1 fans who tried to piece together which F1 this was and how it ended up in a known cartel hotspot in Mexico. Eventually most people settled on that this car was #03
I falsely believed that Ford owned McLaren until my roommate educated me, so now I am wondering why I had that association in my head.
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DRX is pleased to announce that DRX and McLaren are official partners. We are proud to collaborate with the most successful Supercar brand. We are planning to do various on/offline contents for the upcoming split.
Keep supporting and fly higher with DRX!
Source: Twitter
McLaren Automotive replaced McLaren Cars in 2010. McLaren Cars was founded in 1985. The company went on to release the McLaren F1 in 1992. Between 1994 and 2010, McLaren Cars was registered as a 'dormant company', before the founding of McLaren Automotive in 2010. The new company was originally separate from the existing McLaren companies to enable investment in the new venture, but was brought together in July 2017 after Ron Dennis sold his shares in McLaren Automotive and McLaren Technology Group.
McLaren's Formula One founder Bruce McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1937. McLaren learned about cars and engineering at his parent's service station and workshop in his hometown, Auckland, New Zealand. By 15, he had entered a local hillclimb in an Austin 7 Ulster; winning his first race in the car. In 1958, McLaren arrived in the United Kingdom with the ‘Driver to Europe’ scheme, intended to help Australian and New Zealand racers to compete in Europe. His mentor, Jack Brabham introduced him to Cooper Cars, a small team based in Surbiton, Surrey. Auspiciously starting his Formula One career in 1958, McLaren joined the Formula One team a year later. That same year, he won the US Grand Prix at age 22, making him the youngest Grand Prix winner to that date. He stayed with Cooper for a further seven years, winning three more Grands Prix and other races, driving for Jaguar and Aston Martin, & winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with Ford.
McLaren founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1963. A year later, the company built the first McLaren race car – the M1A; 24 were produced. Its successor, the M1B, allowed McLaren into the Can-Am championship and emerged the dominant victor with 43 victories, almost three times more than rival Porsche. In 1965, the first McLaren Formula One car, the M2B, debuted at the Monaco Grand Prix.
After his victories and time in the F3, McLaren was designing and testing a prototype M6GT-registered OBH 500H, a light sports car with an estimated top speed of 165 mph and zero to 100 mph time of eight seconds. However, McLaren died in a car accident in 1970 before the prototype could be completed.
DRX is pleased to announce that DRX and McLaren are official partners. We are proud to collaborate with the most successful Supercar brand. We are planning to do various on/offline contents for the upcoming split.
Keep supporting and fly higher with DRX!
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