If there is a sport that needs no introduction, this sport is the McLaren F1 . For the more distracted, let's get down to the essentials.
Produced between 1993 and 1998 and equipped with a 6.1 l V12 block with 627 hp, the F1 went down in history as the fastest atmospheric-engined production car ever, when it reached a record speed of 390.7 km/h.
In addition, it was also the first road legal model to use a carbon fiber chassis, the result of McLaren's Formula 1 know-how.
Being a production car limited to 106 units — 64 of which are road cars, like this example — it can be said that any McLaren F1 is a very rare car by nature. But in the case of Andrew Bagnall, a New Zealand businessman, he can boast of having in his garage one of the rarest McLaren F1's on the planet, the McLaren F1 ‘LM Specification’ HDF (in the images).
This HDF version — Extra High Downforce Package — it differs from the original model thanks to its larger rear wing, generously proportioned front splitter and air vents over the wheel arches. Less visible are the suspension adjustments, the new rear diffuser and the 53hp increase in the V12 engine's power. totaling 680 hp!
Andrew BagnallThese modifications have transformed a car that is comfortable and easy to drive on the road into a circuit machine. The McLaren F1 HDF changes relationships like no other car on the face of the earth.
There is no love like the first
Owners of many other exotic cars, including the latest McLaren P1, Andrew Bagnall confesses that the McLaren F1 ‘LM Specification’ HDF has a special place in his garage. "I've driven big sports cars and a lot of them end up in other people's hands a few years later, but I like this car so much that it would be a big loss if I had to sell it."
And anyone who thinks that the sports car is just a museum piece must be disappointed, or Andrew Bagnall was not a former driver. “I drive it at least once a month,” he says. The video below well reflects Andrew's passion for his McLaren F1: