Rowan Atkinson smashed his McLaren F1

The F1 is such a legend so I really hope Rowan restores it to it's former glory. :)
 
It will be - Takes a certain type to own an F1 IMO, and from all accounts Rowan cherishes his.
 
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Ralph Lauren owns three of the damn things. Two Standard Specs and one F1 LM. One them which was actually first crashed by someone else and then acquired by Lauren for something about third of a million dollars, then completely restored (accordingly) making it the lowest amount of money ever handled into the transaction for a McLaren F1.

Damn, that is still many trips to my friend's apartment to gotta find pennies from under the couch.
 
"Would sir care for a twin-turbo V8 or V12 and a carbon-fiber body?"
 
:lol: The only guy who smashed his McLaren F1 twice.



...but all good things are three... :p
 
He's owned a car notorious for taking no prisoners for the best part of a decade and a half and has had the guts to drive it a lot, so I'd say two prangs are pretty good innings (and good driving)

It looks bad, but I think McLaren could fix it again, seeing that they restored the two cars that went up in flames at Le Mans as well as a car in the States that pretty much melted.

More than anything though I'm glad Rowan is alright, the man is a legend.
 
Donington said:
It looks bad, but I think McLaren could fix it again, seeing that they restored the two cars that went up in flames at Le Mans as well as a car in the States that pretty much melted.
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And those cars that burned at Le Mans in '97 got severely barbecued... here's one (along with a 911 GT1 which caught fire at the same place):

[video=youtube;ctNvi-_kdEQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctNvi-_kdEQ[/video]
 
I think it's restorable. I don't think Mclaren would let one of their beloved F1's be written off.
 
That'll Buff Out.

Or, more accurately, McLaren will build a new F1, pry the serial and VIN plates off the original and call it job done.
 
Perhaps he'll take this opportunity to get it resprayed.

It's maroon for God's sake
 
Iosis said:
Really?

article-2022680-0D4EFDBC00000578-422_634x440.jpg
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Massive OH COCK!

when I first saw the photos it didn't look too bad. But dayum! the back end is gone!

Should get it rebuilt and get a new, more powerful V12 engine to sit in the back. Salvage the old V12 and turn it into an ornament/table/wine rack.
 
Amie8 said:
Perhaps he'll take this opportunity to get it resprayed.

It's maroon for God's sake
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Yeah, not the best colour for a F1.

It looks best in silver, IMO.

mclaren-f1-supercars.jpg
 
otispunkmeyer said:
Should get it rebuilt and get a new, more powerful V12 engine to sit in the back. Salvage the old V12 and turn it into an ornament/table/wine rack.
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The engine in the F1 was very very specific for that car. It was a stressed member so it's responsible for a lot of the rigidity of the car. The requirements Murray held BMW to were really quite strict. I think any other engine, even one of the same weight and power, would change the character of the car a lot. And I say that with the zero authority that anybody who hasn't driven one would.

Ilpav said:
Yeah, not the best colour for a F1.

It looks best in silver, IMO.

mclaren-f1-supercars.jpg
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Yeeargh, that super elongated back makes it look a bit carbage when you concentrate on it. I never noticed those proportions before since they were always covered in racing liveries.
 
GraemeH said:
Yeeargh, that super elongated back makes it look a bit carbage when you concentrate on it. I never noticed those proportions before since they were always covered in racing liveries.
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Are you kidding? I *LOVE* it. It's all "Oh, hey, I built you this awesome supercar and realized I didn't have enough room inside to contain all the awesome, so it comes with this extra shed that has all the REALLY racey bits in it!"
 
I found out about this on a German News page (http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/leute/0,1518,778534,00.html) and it made me angry. Not because of Atkinson or the destroyed McLaren but because it showed how little media cares these days to write a solid article with facts that are no more then accurate. :wall:

I mean this:

"Mr. Bean" hatte sich vor kurzem erfolgreich als Fahrer in der britischen Kultsendung "Top Gear" versucht, in der sich Prominente Rennen liefern.
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Translates like that:

Recently "Mr. Bean" had an appearance in the British TV Show "Top Gear" in which celebrities race each other.

Oh I see. That is what Top Gear is about. I'm too glad millions of people who've never heard of Top Gear before are informed about its content now... :rolleyes:

It really makes me wonder... how should I believe any other more "complicated" article, when they can not even get something like that right? And it is not just this specific site. It is more like a general experience with media these days...
 
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