McLaren is flexing its official Certification program by MSO again this year, by showing off chassis F1 #63 in a freshly-restored and newly-certified state. You can see it in person at Hampton Court Concours d’Elegance 2019 next week.
The restoration took 18 months, and involved a full engine and transmission rebuild, and a complete interior retrim.
On the inside, new leather and alcantara trim is complemented by a new steering wheel taken from MSO’s stockpile of original parts. The owner kept the original wheel as a memento – so cool.
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Following the rebuild, the BMW V12 engine was even dyno-tested to make sure it produced figures befitting an F1.
Other parts were also sent back to their original suppliers for refurbishment and rebuild. The dampers went back to Bilstein while the driveshafts and hubs were also refreshed by their original supplier.
The result, after those 18 months, and 3,000 man-hours, is a near good-as-new McLaren F1, track-proven and complete with a certificate of authenticity and history file. The owner even got a scale model created from a laser scan of the car.
MSO’s certified program is pretty well the closest thing anyone will get to experiencing taking delivery of a brand new McLaren F1. The catch is that you have to own one to send in for a restoration in the first place…
“Just 12 months ago we announced the MSO McLaren F1 Heritage programme with the unveiling of F1 25R, resplendent in Gulf Racing Colours”, said Ansar Ali, Managing Director, McLaren Special Operations.
“Following an extensive restoration, which was very much a labour of love for our team, it’s an honour to now display chassis 63 at the Hampton Court Concours d’Elegance.
“With the work the team has carried out, this car will continue to fulfil the original brief for the McLaren F1; to create the world’s finest road car.”
