Peloton25

The funny part is that the person who uploaded the video wouldn't know how to open the door on a P1 either. The caption reads: You don't slide your hand like the early 12Cs - they did away with that feature in 2013 and it wasn't employed on the P1. Inside the vent in the P1s door are a pair of buttons - one that locks the doors and another that opens it and if you get them confused you will struggle. Still not worth making a video of this and I had the same comment - the real fail was from the man in the driver's seat not opening the door for the lady. >8^) ER

That's a different red one than the one that usually makes appearances at events in the Bay Area. This is chassis 042 - the one that McLaren San Francisco's owner had for many years featured a cream-colored interior and was chassis 028. It was recently sold to someone in the UK for north of $10M USD. >8^) ER

True, but there are very significant visual differences between that part and the 12C HS look. No one would struggle to confuse them, I don't think. >8^) ER

Robert would not have been telling you the truth then. MSO have only supplied that style of bumper on the 10 12C High Sports they produced. It was not an option otherwise, nor was it a part that could be purchased by existing owners - many tried. There is a very distinct detail in the placement of the side marker lenses on the MSO bumper - the trailing edge doesn't line up flush with the wheel arch as they do on all other 12Cs; rather they are positioned forward and centered above the bumper side vents. Because the part is identical to the one used on the 12C, they stick out somewhat awkwardly from the side of the car as you can see from these two photos. Additionally, all of the real 12C High Sports feature those louvers over the front wheel arches. These were an MSO option that could be ordered during build or as parts after the fact, but as Robert's car is lacking those it is quite clear that his car is not one of the 10 12C High Sports in case there was still some doubts. I don't get involved in the drama that follows Robert, but when I hear stories like yours I can certainly understand where it comes from. >8^) ER

No Kevin, that is not MSO. It wears the same Revosport knockoff bumper patterned after the 12C High Sports that many other cars wear. The placement of the side markers is the tell. >8^) ER

Well for starters, we should clear up that chassis number so as not to leave any lingering question about a different F1. Chassis 048 still wears its original Brilliant Blue Metallic paint and is with its second owner in Switzerland. Here's a photo: The car you are thinking of was chassis 042, originally silver and the cover car for a couple of Road&Track magazines which most will remember. It was chosen to be repainted by its first owner in Ferrari's traditional Rosso Corsa paint back in 2005. At the same time the interior was changed from the original grey leather to a combination of red and black. All of this work was done at shops local to the owner in Midland, TX. Some photos were shared of the car disassembled at the paint shop in TX and it appeared to be in a bit of disarray - certainly not the conditions we are used to seeing cars like these in. Negative comments were made by a few in the forum where they were shared and the owner's friend who had supplied the images decided to cease participating because of that. I have the photos but I would be reluctant to share them again. The same F1 had earlier experienced an issue with the transmission - a shaft had broken due to a burnout that I was told the owner's son had done. They apparently didn't like the $75,000 estimate of repair from McLaren and tried to have the shaft made locally. The car sat in pieces for many months before they finally had the work done through McLaren afterall. Just gives an example of their mindset I guess in choosing the local vendors. Strangely in the year after the paint work was done the car was sold to someone in Northern California. Not certain of the reasoning behind that decision. I met the car's owner once at the Monterey Historics and he perfers to keep things very private. The car has made appearances at a few events around the Bay Area, but generally remains pretty hidden. Here's a couple of pics of it on display during the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway in June 2011. I believe this was the last time that car was spotted in public so I can't be 100% certain of where it might be or how it might look today, but it hasn't surfaced anywhere else so he is likely to still have it. I haven't personally seen chassis 042 since the retrim work was done but another F1 owner who did has rated it very high in quality. Also the new owner chose to keep it as he received it for at least 5 years, so that says something. Not aware of anymore escaping unfortunately. Musk sold his F1 (chassis 067) when he was having some financial challenges around 2007. The new owner is from Minnesota but used to keep the car in California and Oregon. His was the car that caught fire in Santa Rosa, CA in June 2009 - the story was pretty well covered online. Thankfully the factory were able to fully repair it and had it back on the road the following September. The current owner has attended both of the F1 Tours in 2012 and 2014 so he's certainly not shy to drive it despite having the prior incident. >8^) ER

Yes, the auction description names the first owner as Shin Okamoto, a rather well known collector in Japan. He kept the car from 1995 until late 2010. The second owner of the car was in Chicago and the third owner has kept the car in the UK. The fact that it spent those two years in Chicago will likely be important in the auction as it means the car requires little more than a transfer of the required 'Show or Display' exemption paperwork in order for the new owner to bring it home should they also be an American. >8^) ER

The first owner who acquired the car in 1995 and kept it until 2010 is really responsible for nearly all the mileage. The second owner who is a major McLaren collector acquired it solely for that purpose and had another F1 to drive instead. The same is true of the car's third owner who has consigned it to Gooding. Perhaps it will find a new owner who will choose to exercise it more frequently but don't feel bad for the car - it has lived a pretty well pampered life so far. That said, I do prefer the cars that are used personally as it gives us mere mortals a much better chance to also enjoy them, if only briefly. >8^) ER

Black wheels are an addition from the current owner - could easily be changed back. This one should draw some attention in a unique color, and with incredibly low mileage. Full catalog description to follow at the link below: http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1995-mclaren-f1-2/ >8^) ER

MSO could produce that if someone wanted, but this is actually a Photoshopped image of the Aurora Blue 650S Spider from Cats Exotics: http://www.catsexotics.com/web/vehicle_photos/1554241/ MSO has a fairly reasonable cost for Paint-To-Sample as I recall - much less expensive than Ferrari at least. >8^) ER

After seeing what he did to his 458 Spyder there is a chance that white was chosen simply as the best base-layer. >8^) ER

That's why there are choices. Obviously at least one person loved this enough to write the check. There are two of them - Fux got the one with the green wheels, green tinted carbon and green just about everything else. His car is chassis #002. >8^) ER

I know the owner of this P1 - he wouldn't have been racing on the street. >8^) ER

I think it did. Here's a photo when it first arrived at the dealer: Pics inside the McLaren Production Centre are near impossible to find/obtain. When a customer orders a car McLaren should provide that as a service. Not sure what your travel schedule looks like but there have been other McLaren customers who have visited the factory while there car was in build and gotten some photos that way. At least one gentleman who did was even given the privilege of being the first to fire up the engine in his car when it was at that stage of production. >8^) ER

Late to the party... ...but no on both those answers. The green P1 is a custom color for the owner of that P1 - believed to be chassis 002, but not yet confirmed. Mantis Green is much brighter - more 'Kermit the Frog' if you will - and Petrol Green is almost Black with Green undertones. Here's one of the few photos where you can pick up the color in Petrol Green. BTW: In addition to the Green P1 with Green wheels there is another Green P1 with Black wheels that was delivered in Florida - similar but different custom shade of Green and the bare carbon on that car was not tinted to match like the other. >8^) ER