8 things you should know about McLaren

The McLaren F1 was a milestone in technology that brought Formula 1-level technology to the road and was written about ad nauseam. There is less talk about how South African Formula 1 car designer Gordon Murray got McLaren’s first production car in motion. He had been thinking about a street car, but in 1988 the company’s directors decided that just making a “normal” supercar would be too easy. That was music to Murray’s ears, and he sat down and wrote a four-page manifesto that the supercar would not compromise. For example, no plastic would be used; the car would do 200 mph, pull over 1g in lateral acceleration and be based on a Formula 1-derived monocoque chassis with a safety cell to protect the three occupants. Also, the driver would be centrally positioned and the car would use an F1-based push-pull rod suspension and so on.

Murray didn’t care that much about the KPIs, however. He didn’t care about the 0-60 mph. That was just a by-product of building a racing car that you can enjoy on the road and as a GT car. What he wanted was at least 100 hp per liter from the engine, and he knew that only Honda, BMW or Ferrari could reliably build this engine. McLaren had a relationship with Honda in Formula 1, but Honda just didn’t seem interested. Fortunately, Murray met his friend Paul Rosche from BMW Motorsport at the 1990 German Grand Prix. Murray had certain design parameters, so Rosche had BMW build a new engine – a 6.1 liter 60 degree V12 with dry sump lubrication.