Reports are coming out of New Zealand that a 1994 McLaren F1 rolling through the country with over 30 other McLaren supercars has crashed. Sounds like nobody was physically hurt, but I’m heartbroken to hear one of my childhood idols may have been damaged!
The F1 of course is one of most significant high-performance vehicles of our time. With a timeless styling by Formula 1 designer Gordon Murray, a novel three-seat configuration, gold-plated BMW V12 and honest-to-god ability to climb right past 200 MPH the F1 captivated so many of us since we were first introduced to it in the early 90’s.
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I still remember seeing one at the Castle Hill Concourse d’Elegance, back when Ipswich, Massachusetts still had a Concourse d’Elegance, and dreaming about it basically every time I’ve spaced out since then.
This week McLaren owners from all over the world have descended upon New Zealand for the inaugural #McLarenEpic tour, a tribute to the deceased Kiwi F1 racer Bruce McLaren after whom the company is named and a great excuse for what I’m sure was an awesome road trip until this alleged mishap.
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“The car was involved in a minor accident where it left the road and ended up in a ditch,” as Stuff quotes McLaren Automotive Asia Pacific Marketing Manager Geoff Tink. Apparently there were two people in the car but no injuries or other vehicles involved.
The extent of the damage to the F1 or exact cause of the crash remain unclear.
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“Police were alerted about 12:15 p.m. to the incident on the Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd, where the car had spun off the road, a spokeswoman said,” reports the Otago Daily Times/NZ Herald. Stuff detailed that “an eyewitness said skid marks were visible for up to 80 meters before the car left the road and came to a sudden halt in a ditch.”
Saturday’s drive (New Zealand’s a day ahead of us, remember) was said to have been the last leg of the trip running from Auckland to Queenstown. The NZ Heraldreckons the squadron of supercars was $47,000,000. At least, before one of them wiped out I guess.
Otherwise it looks like everybody was having a pretty good time down there.
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We’ve reached out to McLaren to see if any more details come to light. I’m glad it sounds like nobody was hurt but only 106 F1s were ever built, losing one would be a tremendous shame. That said, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about one crashing and something this valuable is almost always worth repairing.
Here’s hoping the damage is minor and reports that the occupants escaped injury are true.
Hat tip to Scott!
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