autoevolution
 

Bob Dylan Is Actually Featured in McLaren F1’s Handbook

McLaren F1 is one of the world’s greatest supercars ever created, but only few lucky folks out there ever get to know it closely. Put together with extreme taste and subtle design, every little detail of the car was carefully considered, including the owner’s manual which stands out by itself as a great collectable. The man who designed it more than 20 years ago has recently explained some of the secrets that make this book the greatest owners manual ever created.
Bob Dylan Is Actually Featured in McLaren F1’s Handbook 1 photo
Photo: Screenshots from McLaren Automotive's Youtube Account
The car. It was initially a concept conceived by Gordon Murray, who convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and engaged Peter Stevens to design the exterior and interior of the car. In 1998, it sets the record for the world’s fastest production car, reaching 231 mph (372 km/h) with the rev limiter enabled, and 243 mph (391 km/h) with the rev limiter removed.

The engine. Even though several negotiations went on between McLaren and Honda, in the end BMW took an interest and the motorsport division, BMW M, headed by engine expert Paul Rosche.The choice Murray went with was a 6.1-liter V12 engined dubbed S70/2.

At 627 horsepower and 586 lb-ft (794 Nm) the motor ended up 14% more powerful and 16 kg (34 lb) heavier than Gordon Murray’s original specifications. One of its features that stands out is the engine bay’s highly efficient heat-reflector made out of gold foil. Approximately 16 g (0.8 ounce) of gold was used in each car.

McLaren F1 and Bob Dylan

The book. As the car was meant to be a one-of-kind creation, every detail in relation with each of the only 106 issues ever produced had to be extremely well taken care of. Thus the hand-illustrated, coffee table book was as important as the car itself. Mark Roberts’ first job working for the company, the man explains how they “used pretty much every print process you cant throw out at a book.”

Roberts explains how there is a Bob Dylan reference in the book, involving the CD auto changer draw. The CD in the picture reads "Street Legal", which is one of the artist’s greatest albums. The album was a serious musical departure for Dylan, who uses a large pop-rock band- complete with female backing vocalists - for the first time.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories