McLaren shook the racing world in 1995 when they braved one of the wettest 24 Hours of Le Mans and beat the much faster prototypes, with their McLaren F1 GTRs placing first, third, fourth, fifth, and thirteenth in their endurance racing debut. This was, to date, the last time a production-based sports car has beaten a purpose-built prototype in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the record books set to be rewritten in 2021 through the introduction of the Hypercar class.
25 years later, the legend continues, as five McLaren Senna GTRs wore the same liveries that the F1 GTRs to remember the historic feat. However, this was not the first time that McLaren produced a special car for a special achievement. In 1995, they came up with an ultra-rare road-legal supercar known as the McLaren F1 LM, that people forget was, and still is, one of the most insane sports cars of all time.
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Commemorative Model
Via reddit
The stunning F1 LM was an engineering marvel made out of carbon fiber, titanium, kevlar and gold. McLaren took the F1 GTR and reverse-engineered the successful Le Mans car to be able to be used in public roads.
via maxf1
Featuring the aerodynamic bodywork of the F1 GTR, the F1 LM shared many elements to the Le Mans-winning car, with only the exception of the carbon-ceramic brakes being replaced with conventional vented steel rotors in the road-legal version.
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Most Powerful F1
Via: Netcarshow.com
The McLaren F1 LM was a supercar that was free from any restrictions that the F1 GTR had to be able to compete in Le Mans. It was a track-oriented iteration of the McLaren F1 road car, and used the same BMW S70/2 engine as the GTR race car.
Pinterest
The result was an unleashed 6.1-liter V12 engine with 680 hp at 7,800 rpm, making it the most powerful McLaren F1 ever made, with 62 and 80 hp more than the standard and Le Mans race car versions, respectively.
6
Fastest 0 To 100 To 0
wsupercars.com
The car broke numerous records in its time due to its stunning performance, with one being the fastest in doing the 0 to 100 to 0 mph test, which was done by the F1 LM in just 11.5 seconds.
via WheelsAge
Furthermore, the 0 to 100 mph time of the F1 LM back in 1995 was done in 6.7 seconds, all while being hampered by factory tires that weren’t up to par with what the supercar could do. With today’s tire technology advancements, the F1 LM could have achieved more.
5
Only Five Were Made
via wikipedia.org
McLaren only made five examples of the F1 LM to pay tribute to the five F1 GTRs that conquered the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, making it an ultra-rare supercar for collectors to have.
via supercars.net
There were no official figures as to how much the F1 LMs were sold for back in 1995, but the fact that the standard F1 sold for more than $815,000 back in its time, shows that the F1 LM could have been two to three times more expensive.
4
Unrestricted Le Mans Race Car
Via: Caricos.com
The F1 LM was proclaimed by McLaren as “an untamed Le Mans race car with number plates”, as it was lighter and more powerful than the actual GTR race car used in the memorable endurance race.
Via ultimatecarpage.com
It featured the same brake cooling and a lower, stiffer and track-tuned suspension used by the GTR, together with an interior stripped out of sound deadening and audio system.
3
Papaya Orange Paint
via carthrottle
Apart from being a celebratory road-legal car, the F1 LM also paid tribute to Bruce McLaren’s racing cars, by having a Papaya Orange paint job.
via supercars.net
The paint job has recently returned to the McLaren Formula One team’s cars, and their current upturn in performance shows that the change of color was a good omen to the Woking team.
2
Lightest F1 Made
via tumblr
With an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 3.4 lbs/hp, the F1 LM was the lightest McLaren F1 ever made. The car weighed in at only 2,341 lbs, which was significantly better than even the GTR race cars.
via supercars.net
This amazing feat was only replicated over 18 years later, when another iconic McLaren in the form of the P1 supercar boasted the same power-to-weight ratio as the F1 LM.
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LM-Specification
Via Robb Report
If the F1 LM was already an ultra-rare supercar, the LM-Spec F1 was even harder to find, as McLaren only built two examples as a somewhat continuation model of the standard F1, but built to Le Mans specifications.
businessinsider.com
After the production of the F1 ended in 1997, McLaren upgraded two standard models to Le Mans specifications, receiving a high-downforce package similar to the LM. Since it wasn’t one of the five LMs made, the LM-Spec retained the more civilized interior found in the standard F1, but with the added performance of the hardcore F1 LM. In 2019, one example was sold in RM Sotheby’s auction for $19.8 million.
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About The Author
Jan Millard Lacuna
(88 Articles Published)
Jan Lacuna is an engineer, car enthusiast, sim racing and real life racing driver from the Philippines and now works as a writer for HotCars.com. He writes about racing, new sports cars and the latest developments in the automotive industry.
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