When McLaren was just starting out on its "professional route," it considered how to make both racing vehicles and vehicles intended for use on public roads. Bruce McLaren, who made history by becoming the Formula 1 championship's youngest Grand Prix winner, passed away in the summer of 1970 while trying out a brand-new McLaren M8D vehicle. Probably as a result of this tragic occurrence, Ron Dennis and Gordon Murray's affiliation with Project 4 led to the creation of McLaren's "civilian supercar," which would not have existed otherwise. The McLaren F1 is unique in terms of its past and several technical innovations. We invite you to plunge into the story of the luxury car brand McLaren, told in a few little-known facts.

1. Most Expensive McLaren

At the Gooding & Company auction in Pebble Beach in August 2021, a classic 1995 McLaren F1 supercar with a tiny mileage of 390 kilometers was sold under the hammer. They planned to earn at least $15 million for the car, but the total amount exceeded all expectations. The winner of the auction offered a crazy $ 20.46 million for a rare copy of the model, which made this lot the most expensive McLaren in history. The previous record for a road version was held in 2017 when another F1 was sold for $15.62 million.

Meanwhile, in one of the host countries of Formula 1, the UAE, namely in Dubai, you can easily and quickly rent such a frisky car. Mclaren price in UAE will pleasantly surprise you and you will be convinced that today car rental of any class has become more affordable than ever. To hire a car, you will not need much time, you can even do it in advance on the website or in the classic way - by arriving at the car rental company's showroom.

2. Golden car

The legendary supercar McLaren F1 until 2005 held the speed record (386 km / h) among production cars and was sold at a price of $ 1.2 million. The hood of this car is covered with gold foil from the inside. This was done, however, not for luxury, but because gold is one of the best reflectors, protecting carbon fiber car body panels from the heat generated by the engine.

3. The most reliable McLaren car - M2B

The McLaren team's car, which was used throughout the season, was the M2B model, built in 1966. First, a 321-horsepower V8 engine from Ford was installed under its hood. With him, the mass of the car was 535 kg. At the same time, the last car to win the Formula 1 championship was the MP4-23, which had almost twice as much power - 765 horsepower, but the weight of the car was only 65 kg more. This allows you to track the progress of the cars of the McLaren team throughout the participation in Formula 1.

4. First Formula 1 car

The first McLaren Formula 1 car to be used throughout the season was the 1966 M2B. Initially, a three-liter Ford V8 engine was installed on it, which had a power of 321 hp. with a machine weight of 535 kg. To see how Formula 1 has evolved, the last car to win the championship, the MP4-23, had almost two and a half times the power, 765 hp, and was only 65 kg heavier.

5. McLaren technology center built on snake land

In order for the construction work of the McLaren Technology Center to take place without stops and delays, on the land where it was to be built, all snakes had to be removed first. It took a lot of effort to do this. In an area of ​​approximately one square kilometer, the company's engineers installed a plastic fence. After that, the earth was covered with corrugated metal sheets in order to warm it under the scorching sun. Only after that did all the snakes appear on the surface. That's how they managed to get rid of them.

6. Pioneers McLaren

In 1981, the McLaren team pioneered the use of a carbon fiber chassis on the MP4/1, a new word in motorsport that is now ubiquitous. This provided a different level of rigidity and protection for the driver, changing the scenario for the development of Formula 1 cars.

7. The strangest McLaren models are MP4 / T5 and MP9-48T

Throughout its history, the McLaren team has created not only Formula 1 cars. The MP4 / T5 and MP9-48T cars are considered the strangest models. The first model was a small orange car, which in 2002, driven by Chris Goodwood, entered the hill-descent "soap car" championship at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In turn, the MP4-98T model is a two-seater Formula 1 car, which was developed in 1998. It is noteworthy, but both machines are designed in a single copy.

8. McLaren of Mr. Bean

Rowan Atkinson, who achieved international fame and notoriety as Mr. Bean, owned the pricey supercar for more than 15 years and clocked up around 66,000 kilometers in its use. The comedian managed to have two accidents in his extremely expensive and ultra-exclusive vehicle during this time (in 1999 and 2011). Despite crashes with poles, the purchase ended up being highly profitable: Atkinson paid 540000 pounds for the McLaren F1 in 1997 and subsequently sold it for 8,000,000 pounds in 2015.