The McLaren F1 used to be the “King of Road” back in the 20th Century. Labelled as the “finest driving machine yet built for the public road” by Autocar (a British car magazine) in 1994, the F1 is considered to be one of the greatest achievements in automotive history. The idea for the car was conceived by McLaren’s Chief Engineer Gordon Murray after the 1988 Italian Grand Prix. Murray proposed his concept to McLaren’s Executive Chairman Ron Dennis, calling the design as the ultimate road car. The F1 started its production in 1992 and was first unveiled at The Sporting Club in Monaco. In 1998, the McLaren F1 made history by setting the record for the fastest road car in the world. It went up to 231 mph (372 km/h) with the rev limiter and almost 243 mph (391 km/h) without it. McLaren stopped the F1’s production in 1998, releasing 106 listed cars during its 6-year span. McLaren has just made those 106 people the envy of the world.
During my youth, I remember dreaming of having a car like the F1. Who wouldn’t? Its slick design is enough to attract all the girls in the casinos. However, if you really want to make those pretty casino girls crazy, poker is your best wing man. Unlike other card games, the influence of luck in poker is tremendously low, meaning you can beat your opponents without having a good hand. Cool professional poker players like Gus Hansen wins tournaments by bluffing their way to the final table. Luckily for us amateurs, there are websites like partypoker.com where we can practice to improve our game. If you don’t have the money to buy a McLaren F1, poker is the next best thing to impress women. However, if you are going to ask me to choose between excellent poker skills and the McLaren F1, I would take the car in a heartbeat.
Almost 15 year later, the McLaren F1 is still one of the fastest cars in the planet. Even if the Veyrons and the Venoms have already overtaken the F1 for the “fastest car” title, they can’t take away the contribution that the car has made in the automotive industry. Its streamlined structure is arguably better than most sports cars today, which also became the benchmark for most car manufacturers. The modified version of the F1 has even won racing events (for example, the 24 Hour Le Mans in 1995) beating its purposely-built prototype race car opponents.
Today, I still imagine that I can someday drive a car like the McLaren F1. To be honest, I would still choose the F1 over the Buggati Veyron (world’s fastest) and the Hennessey Venom (2nd fastest). Because when you’re driving the F1, you’re driving history.
[ad]
