Archive for category Cars

However small your car knowledge may be you ought to have heard of the McLaren F1 which even today, nearly 20 years after production began, is the world’s fastest naturally aspirated car and stands out in my mind as the greatest supercar to have ever been built. McLaren intended to make such an impression with the F1, designing without fear of cost, only with fear of weight.

The F1 was the first road car to be built with a carbon fibre chassis in 1993, a substance 5 times stronger than aluminium and significantly lighter. McLaren pioneered Formula 1′s first ever carbon fibre monocoque in 1981 with the MP4-1, and since chief engineer Gordon Murray’s concerns were with weight and performance rather than keeping to any kind of budget, other expensive and high-tech materials such as  titanium, magnesium, kevlar and gold (which lines the engine bay to effectively deflect heat) were… [ Read more ]