Let’s walk among the trumpets and crazy wide slicks of the 1972 Can-Am paddock at Road Atlanta. Maybe I over-romanticize the history of motor racing—okay, definitely—but wandering among the teams here looks much more like any amateur vintage race happening this weekend than the velvet-rope, VIP charade of top-shelf racing in the modern era. You can argue safety and engineering advances, but you’ll never make me believe that fan access is better now. More at Mac’s Motor City Garage.
This is much, much newer than the typical fare here on The Chicane, but I think I include it here for good reason. This machine has already proven itself to be one of the great collectable sportscars of the modern era and examples will doubtless be drawing top dollar at auctions for decades to come. This distinction, however, is not without a curse all its own. This car was masterfully constructed by McLaren in 1995. In the 19 years since, this poor neglected piece of perfect has driven a scant 1,000 miles. That’s just over 50 miles a year.
What’s the point?
When this McLaren F1 crosses the block at Gooding & Co’s Pebble Beach auction next month, there’s a very good chance that it will achieve the estimated hammer price of $12,000,000 – $14,000,000. If you’re the one to take her home, do yourself a favor and drive it a little, wouldja? More information at Gooding’s Lot Detail page.
That sounds more than a bit obvious of course. But this clip is a rare opportunity to give you some basis of comparison. Of course, we usually only see Formula 1 cars being driven around other Formula 1 cars. One is a few tenths faster than another, but what are these machines like when running next to something we know, like a typical econobox, or even a high performance road car? McLaren answers in this unusual scenario they hosted at Estoril in February of 1991.
Here’s the setup: Gareth Rees leaves the starting grid in a 1.6 liter Honda Concert. 20 seconds later, Alan McNish leaves the grid in a Porsche 911 Turbo. For the next 55 seconds, we watch McNish catch up to Rees. What seems like an eternity (1 minute 15 seconds) after the Honda started the 2 1/2 mile lap, Ayrton Senna departs in his McLaren. A minute later, and still on the first lap, Senna passes them both.
It seems like a foregone conclusion that he would, but watching that McLaren’s closing speed on the road cars really highlights how an F1 machine is just an entirely different animal from a road car.
Peter Hoag took some time out from his duties with Regogo Racing to walk the paddock at the Mitty a few weeks ago and sent in these wonderful images of some of the competitors in various stages of preparation for their run. We tend to focus on the action on the track, but often the most fun at a vintage event can be had just wandering around the paddock spotting the cars, chatting with drivers, or listening in as two competitors hop out of their machines and rush to congratulate one another and recount their on-track battles.
The cars are what lured me in to vintage racing but the community is what keeps me going back every summer. Thanks for sending these in Peter!
