Rowan Atkinson smashed his McLaren F1

EyeMWing said:
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!"
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afaik the long tail was only there to provide more stability at high speeds?
 
that, and more downforce in general to compete with the 911 GT1 and CLK GTR. the final racing versions looked like this.

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I prefer a vanilla F1 myself.
 
idk said:
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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Absolutely. When you read an article in a newspaper or online about a subject that you happen to be quite knowledgeable you see how many mistakes are in it because it was written by someone who isn't knowledgeable/passionate about the subject matter. It makes you think 'how many other stories are filled with mistakes and misleading information but I don't realise it because I don't know any better?'

It'll give you a much healthier perspective when it comes to the news and will really make you think twice before taking any news story as 100% true.
[/journalismnerd]
 
Yup. The Torygraph reported that his last F1 bump was a Metro in Scotland when IIRC it was a Fiesta on the A6 near Garstang in Lancashire. Still I suppose if you're a London-centric hack Scotland and Lancashire are the same place.
 
Atkinson was lucky. Today his right arm is supported by a sling, the result of the only injury he suffered in the crash.
?A broken shoulder blade,? he confirms.

?It?s painful but it doesn?t seem to need any surgery, so hopefully it?s on the mend.?

If there is also a smattering of wounded pride, he?s doing a sterling job of keeping it concealed.

Clearly, the injuries could have been much worse.

?I can?t talk about it very much, because it?s still a matter for investigation for insurance reasons,? he says. ?But basically the car span on the wet road and hit a road sign.

?It was a big bang and not something one would wish to do every day of the week,? deadpans the 56-year-old before his insanely mobile eyebrows ? used to great effect in character as bungling spy Johnny English or the accident-prone Mr Bean ? elevate skywards.
?But no other car was involved thankfully, and it would appear that car and driver will mend.?
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"Hello insurance assesor. I was doing 14 HPH, I swerved to avoid a hedgehog."


No, it wasn?t a write-off and it didn?t catch fire. I?ve had it for 14 years so it?s a family heirloom and I?d rather keep it and get it mended.?

This is no surprise when you consider that his F1, which cost about ?650,000 new and is one of only around 70 on the road worldwide, would now be worth in excess of ?2 million in perfect condition.

?It really could have been a lot worse. The McLaren is a rare car, but it?s made entirely of carbon fibre and is unbelievably strong, and that was undoubtedly a big factor. If it had been a steel or aluminium monocoque there would have been a greater risk of injury.?
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So how fast was he going?
I don?t know and if I did know it wouldn?t be appropriate to say. I had an accident in the same car 12 years ago, which was much less serious. It?s a car you have to be cautious in, and it?s easy to be incautious because it?s extremely powerful. It was designed almost 20 years ago, and back then they didn?t have all the traction control and stability control that modern cars have, which means you are on your own.

?I enjoy the car from that point of view because it?s a challenge, particularly in the wet, to keep the car?? he trails off momentarily.
That?s part of what the car is about. But you have to be cautious. If your concentration slips for a second then trouble can result. It?s very fast but there are no nannies.?
Atkinson?s smash came only weeks after he had clocked the fastest-ever guest lap on Top Gear.

So, has the experience put him off supercars for good?

?No, I hope not. I?m a great believer in getting back on the horse.?

As a child, he drove tractors and by the time he was 12 he?d customised his mother?s old Morris Minor and used it to bomb around the fields.
?I never actually drove it on the road. I used it like a farm buggy. I cut off all the wings, the bonnet and the boot and I tried to lighten it as much as possible so that it would go as fast as possible.
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Why Rolls-Royce made me a custom 16-cylinder, 9-litre phantom
Rowan Atkinson has owned a fleet of luxury cars over the years, including an Aston Martin V8, Lancia Delta Integrale, Bentley Mulsanne, Honda NSX, MG X-Power SV, Mercedes-Benz 600, Lotus Carlton ? and lots of Ferraris. One that has a special place in his heart, though, is a four-door Rolls-Royce Phantom.
?I did 76,000 miles in that car over five years,? he says. ?It was a great car ? big, silly, hardly discreet and not a sports car, but there was something about it. It was a special colour which Rolls-Royce very sweetly gave the name Blackadder Blue.
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'When I was thinking of a car for Johnny English, I thought, "Why not get a two-door Phantom, but a slightly cooler version?",' said Rowan
?When I got in it felt like it put its arm around me and said, ?You come with me, things will be fine?? When a car does that, it?s very reassuring. I used the Phantom as ?my car? for five years and as a result I built up a relationship with it, and that?s terribly important. And then I made the mistake of selling it, which I still regret.

?When I was thinking of a car for Johnny English, I thought, ?Why not get a two-door Phantom, but a slightly cooler version???

Being the car fanatic that he is, Atkinson knew that several years ago Rolls-Royce had developed a massively powerful nine-litre V16 engine for the Phantom.
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They got cold feet and put in a smaller engine; a V12,? says Atkinson.

?All filming is smoke and mirrors and we could have put a plastic cover on to make it look like a V16, but I thought that wasn?t the way to go.

'Rolls-Royce didn?t want to do that either because it smacks of a lack of integrity. I asked them if they would be so kind and they got the engine out and put it in the car.? What was it like to drive?

?Unbelievable,? smiles Atkinson. ?It reminded me of that old clich?, it?s like the Hand of God has grasped the back of the car and gone, ?Whoosshh??? So was he tempted to buy it and take it home?

?I wasn?t allowed to. They are very precious about it at Rolls-Royce. I think they are seriously worried that people will want them to make some, so what I?m told to say is that it?s not a proposition for production.?
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Aww, I thought he bought it. :(


Linky
 
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little follow up, he's send that it IS now being mended which is good

[video]http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/15111090[/video]
 
He's got such a calm about him. I know it's wrong, but i chuckled when he said "Oh here we go again." :D
 
He's back... again.


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Rowan Atkinson's insurers pay out record sum of ?910,000 to repair 240mph McLaren F1 he crashed into a tree

The bill for the work came to ?910,000 - three times as much as the previous record payout by Aviva in 2010 for a Pagani Zonda.
Atkinson, worth a reported ?71 million, paid ?640,000 for the motor - one of only 64 built by McLaren - in 1997.
He hit a slippery patch of road near Peterborough in August 2011 and lost control of the F1, hitting a tree.
The car's 6.1 litre engine was left 20 yards away from the rest of the vehicle after the crash.
It took technicians at McLaren Special Operations four weeks to calculate how much it would cost to repair the car.
The work was given the go-ahead by the unnamed insurance company because the F1's value has soared beyond its original price tag.
One model in immaculate condition sold for ?3.5 million last year.
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He told this month's Classic and Sports Car magazine that he won't hide the car away.
He said: 'I'm not a collector. I don't like the toy cupboard syndrome that causes so many good cars to evaporate.
'It depresses me that they are hidden away like investment art, or gold ingots in a Swiss vault.
'The McLaren is just so usable, it is a crime not to use it. No gritted teeth, you just get in and drive.'
He told the magazine that getting back behind its wheel after more than a year was like 'putting a familiar sweater on'.
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Linky
 
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Yay for someone actually USING such awesome cars.
 
He must really love that car. I mean, he practically spent the cost of the F1's upcoming replacemet (P1) to get it fixed.
 
He didn't, the insurance company did, but only because it's now worth too much to total. Hooray supercars.
 
How come the repair was more expensive by nearly a third than the original cost of the car when it was new?
 
pepitko said:
How come the repair was more expensive by nearly a third than the original cost of the car when it was new?
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Partly because things are more expensive now and partly because the car has appreciated, so what would have been a write-off back then, isn't today.
 
pepitko said:
How come the repair was more expensive by nearly a third than the original cost of the car when it was new?
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He broke it good...
The car's 6.1 litre engine was left 20 yards away from the rest of the vehicle after the crash.
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Many of the parts probably had to be hand made from scratch with new tools to fabricate them, which explains the price. I doubt Mclaren has a lot of spareparts for the F1 laying around.
 
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