[Peloton25]

I just saw this car tonight - there is a very long story surrounding how I knew it was nearby, but I won't bore everyone with it.

Surprisingly for a guy who knows nearly everything there is to know about the McLaren F1 - this was my first time ever seeing an F1 roadcar. I had seen the long-tailed race versions at Laguna Seca in 1997, but never a standard F1. There are about 20 of them in the US now and I can ID nearly every car and every owner. Even with my gobs of info, seeing one in person had just never materialized for me.

I could tell who the owner was because I have seen him in photos before with the car. His name is Elon Musk. He's a dot com millionaire who made most of his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal. He has since left the company when Ebay purchased them and is trying to start a privateer effort to explore and colonize the planet Mars. Some hobby! Tonight he was at a fundraiser for Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign to be governor. I guess that makes him a republican.

Anyway - I'm more excited about seeing this car than I have ever been about anything else. Nothing else compares at all. As he braked for the 90-degree right to get on the freeway, the rear diffuser which comes up to aid in downforce and direct air to the rear brakes popped up exposing it's gold foil covered underside. That sent a chill up my spine - go ahead - laugh all you want. When he decided he'd had enough of me tagging along beside them (he was with a moderately attractive female) he practically disappeared down the FWY. Considering he's got about 5x the power of my little PZEV, I just let him go.

BTW: Sorry the pics are so crappy - that's not usually my style, but I was trying to drive and take long exposures without the flash and that just doesn't work.

>8^)
ER

 

[Demon4545]

I dunno, the second and third pics are kinda cool, cause they are action shots.

that car is [censored] awesome.

 

[CharlesWA]

You know you could have seen one at SEMA last year if you'd been there.

I know I posted some pics way back when in some thread, but have since pulled them from my whopping 5 megs of web space.

 

[Peloton25]

Yeah - the one at SEMA was Dan Kennedy's car. I probably would have been upset to see that car in person at the show as they had ruined it with those wheels that it was wearing. I also missed seeing that car in an unmolested form at last year's Italian Concours which runs concurrent with the Monterey Weekend including the Historic Races at Laguna Seca and the Pebble Beach Coucours. I've missed some other good opportunities to see various F1's as well.

Seeing one on the road was a little better than seeing one motionless in a display or at a car show though. I was headed to where I knew it was and it actually passed me going the other way on it's way out. I think my heart stopped at that point. LOL!

Incidentally, here's a shot of the owner with the car. He's in his mid 30's now I believe.

Oh, and one time several years ago he actually crashed the car one time on the way to a meeting with the CEO of PayPal in the passenger seat. The car had to be shipped back to England and rebuilt by McLaren Cars. Oops...

>8^)
ER

 

[Demon4545]

Incidentally, here's a shot of the owner with the car. He's in his mid 30's now I believe.

Oh, and one time several years ago he actually crashed the car one time on the way to a meeting with the CEO of PayPal in the passenger seat. The car had to be shipped back to England and rebuilt by McLaren Cars. Oops...



>8^)
ER

Damn, your knowledge of that car borders on stalking.

I suppose it's better that it was crashed while being driven than if it is never driven at all.

 

[zx3 focus racer]

Two Hands - On the Wheel
Two Eyes - On the Road
Your mind on one thing -- DRIVING!!
how does this play into you taking thoes pics? i think you need to come up with an aliby or change your sig!

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

"Surprisingly for a guy who knows nearly everything there is to know about the McLaren F1 - this was my first time ever seeing an F1 roadcar."


That's not much of a surprise, the two have nothing to do with each other.

Nice car.

 

[Peloton25]

how does this play into you taking thoes pics? i think you need to come up with an aliby or change your sig!

It was a ****ing McLaren F1 for crying out loud!!

Rules were meant to be broken.

>8^)
ER

 

[Ray]

I really like that last shot.

 

[ZX3guy182]

that last pic looks pretty cool

 

[TXFO]

joo are the F1 stalker! I'd be worried if I owned one. Its kinda creepy when someone knows everything about the cars and then starts learning about the owners and their lives.

 

[HotRodKougar]

*makes note to self to start some kind of dot-com empire so she can have bad ass cars

I love that last pic, Eric

If you have it a decent size, could you email it to me please? It would make bitchin reference for an abstracty large painting--seriously

[email protected]

thanks

 

[emulous]

Yes, this picture, is great, it is much more a work of art:

Great job

 

[ax0n]

Yes, this picture, is great, it is much more a work of art:

Great job

Reminds me of the effects used in TF&F. Not an insult, it's really more of a freeze-frame than a photograph. I concur.

Oh yah, Eric, when I am an eleventybillionaire, I'll let you take my McLaren F1 and Lingenfelters for a spin.

 

[focaljet-1]

He's a dot com millionaire who made most of his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal.

Actually, Musk purchased the car before PayPal even launched. He made his first real money when he sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million. The car was purchased and delivered to him in the very early days of PayPal's planning.

He did however of course go on to sell PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion.

 

[Peloton25]

Wow Ron, I'm impressed.

I take it you found the Red Herring article on him? I read that one a long time ago. It's amazing how many little pieces of the puzzle are available on the web.

And I'm not a stalker at all - it's natural to want to know a little bit about the people who have chosen to spend close to 1 million dollars on the greatest car in the world when it's something your very passionate about, as I am.

I can probably produce a larger version of that 3rd shot for those who want it. The original doesn't look nearly that good though. Photoshop was my friend...

>8^)
ER

 

[focaljet-1]

Wow Ron, I'm impressed.

I take it you found the Red Herring article on him? I read that one a long time ago. It's amazing how many little pieces of the puzzle are available on the web.

And I'm not a stalker at all - it's natural to want to know a little bit about the people who have chosen to spend close to 1 million dollars on the greatest car in the world when it's something your very passionate about, as I am.

I can probably produce a larger version of that 3rd shot for those who want it. The original doesn't look nearly that good though. Photoshop was my friend...

>8^)
ER

Actually, dot com era trivia is kinda a hobby of mine.

Also, I had a friend that worked for Zip2 and once had drinks with Musk.

 

[ZXmurph]

Nothing else compares at all.

oh come on now.......how about something that offers EVEN MORE LeMans heritage.....as one of the most dominant cars in LeMans history. Dauer 962

hey.....just trying to help you through an obsession buddy

 

[Peloton25]

For all the fans of the 3rd photo, I made a high res (1024x768) version for you. Copy the URL of this image below and add '.orig.jpg' to the end of it.

>8^)
ER

 

[MachFive]

Great pics, Erik! Hell, i was excited when i saw a Ferrari 575 Maranello the other week, i can't imagine what i'd do if i saw a McLaren. Can't blame ya for "stalkin!"