The McLaren F1: Iconic Features and Extraordinary Engineering Revealed

13. The First Hypercar

The McLaren F1 was developed and launched back in 1992 and was in production till 1998. Currently, the F1 is among the most highly valued cars in the world. And the car’s evergreen design and cutting-edge techs, make it a well-engineered performance car even by today’s standards. The original idea behind the F1 was brought forward by Gordon Murray while the entire project was made possible by both Murray and Ron Dennis.

With the BMW V12 under its hood, the F1 was able to achieve incredibly high speeds with blisteringly quick acceleration times for its time. Eventually, it gave birth to the hypercar segment.

12. Carried twice the price tag of the new Bugatti EB110

The current value of the McLaren F1 is insanely high and it has been so from the very beginning. When it was launched, the F1 was priced at a whopping $815,000 which was double the price of a brand-new Bugatti EB110. To put things into perspective, the fabled Lamborghini Diablo had a sticker price of around $248,000 and the limited Ferrari F50 went for around $474,000 back in the 90s.

11. The F1 Was Built in Limited Numbers

The McLaren F1 was a special car and not meant to round on production line like every other supercar. McLaren keeping this in mind only put forward a total of 106 units. This included a total of 71 road-going units, 7 prototypes, and 28 race cars known as F1 GTR. All this makes it even more special and one of the rarest cars ever made.

10. Unique three-seater configuration

The McLaren F1 was, and is still a unique car that has a three-seater configuration. Since the car was designed to be a practical one, it was given three seats. However, the driver was given a center position since the design was inspired by Formula One cars.

9. Real gold-lined engine bay!

Among the incredible details of the McLaren is its gold-lined engine bay. Not a single hypercar or supercar gets a gold-lined engine bay nowadays and it alone makes the F1 unique even today! Murray and his team opted for the gold lining since it is a great reflector of heat and helps to keep the naturally breathing motor cool.

8. Toolkit made from premium metal

An incredible car needs incredible tools. And that’s why the McLaren F1 was shipped with a toolkit made from fancy metals as well. All the wrenches and the single-piece plier are made of lightweight titanium and have a gold color over them to look more premium.

7. McLaren offered roadside assistance through airplanes!

At present, the most ludicrous maintenance costs and time taken by any hypercar are the Bugatti Veyron and the Chiron. However, the McLaren F1 enjoyed some epic assistance. It didn’t matter which corner of the world you were, McLaren dispatched a group of specialized F1 servicemen through the airways to the customer’s location.

6. Was inspired by the Honda NSX!

It might sound surprising, but Gordon Murray was heavily inspired by the Honda NSX. He loved the idea that supercars don’t need to be a headache to live with and should be friendly enough to drive regularly. With that aim, he designed the F1 to be a daily-driver-friendly vehicle.

Gordon after he drove the NSX said, "The moment I drove the 'little' NSX, all the benchmark cars–Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini–I had been using as references in the development of my car vanished from my mind. "Of course, the car we would create, the McLaren F1, needed to be faster than the NSX, but the NSX's ride quality and handling would become our new design target."

5. The V12 Was Made By BMW M Division

The 6.1-liter V12 was sourced from BMW but is a naturally aspirated motor. While forced induction was considered briefly, Gordon Murray insisted on staying away from it to increase the motor’s reliability and reduce its complexity in the long term.

Even though it is a naturally aspirated motor, the performance offered is exhilarating though. It puts out a whopping 618 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. It allows the car to do a 0-60 mph sprint in under 3.2 seconds and achieve a top speed of 240 mph. This made it the fastest production car of its time and the fastest naturally aspirated production car for 30 years straight.

4. McLaren F1 Special Models

As if the ultimate spec sheet and road-going performance of the McLaren F1 were not enough, even meaner models exist. Engineers at the Woking, England, assembly factory developed different variants of the F1, including race cars and road-legal models. The first to grace the road was the F1 GTR, built specifically to compete in the BPR Global GT Series. The F1 GTR later clinched first, third, fourth, fifth, and 13th places in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. A total of 28 GTRs were made over three years.

Next up is the McLaren F1 LM (Le Mans), built to honor the F1 GTR's Le Mans victory. With just 5 units ever made, the F1 LM received extensive modifications to reduce weight, including stripping down the interior noise insulation, removing the audio system, and adding special 18-inch magnesium alloy wheels. These modifications proved productive, as the LM lost 167.6 lbs, bringing its curb weight to 2,341 lbs compared to the base F1's 2,778 lbs.

Additionally, the McLaren F1 GT, the F1 High Downforce Kit (HDK), and the F1 Ameritech (modified to be road-legal in the United States) were also part of the total production number.

3. First-Ever Practicality-Oriented Supercar!

F1 Luggage Compartment - Source: Sfoskett~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The McLaren F1 was initially intended to be a road car but its incredible performance followed later. As such, the car was designed keeping practicality in mind. It has dedicated luggage compartments between the wheel arches of the rear wheels and the upward-opening doors. Moreover, the car’s design allows easy access to the internals, making it easy for periodic maintenance as well.

2. The exhaust system also serves as a crumple zone!

It may sound outright outlandish! I know. But the exhaust system of the McLaren F1 serves as a crumple zone of the car in case there is a major impact from the rear. Moreover, the exhaust system was constructed out of Inconel, the same material that is also found in space shuttles. SPACE SHUTTLES! The material is an alloy of nickel and chrome and weighs significantly less than regular metals. However, it is extremely durable and can also withstand extremely high temperatures along with impacts. This material isn’t found on any hypercars of the present day.

1. The F1 Is Worth Million Now

The F1 was quite an expensive car back in its time with a price tag of around $815,000. If you think that's out of reach, the value in three decades has touched multi-millions. In 2024, the McLaren F1 in good condition demands an average value of $18.1 Million. That's not it, during Monterey Car Week in 2021, the Gooding Company sold a 1995 McLaren F1 for an unbelievable $20.4 Million. That's what happens when a car this good is available in limited numbers.