The pursuit of perfection

‘Uncompromising’ perhaps best describes Gordon Murray's approach to engineering the epochal McLaren F1. Here's why...

- Glen Waddington

No matter what the onslaught of incredible stats, it’s the gearknob I remember most. Sure, when the McLaren F1 was launched in 1994 it cost £540,000 (plus taxes) and there was talk of a 6.0-litre V12 that peaked explosively at more than 100bhp per litre, a power output that made possible a Nardo-proven top speed of 231mph (and maybe more), and acceleration along the way of 0-62mph in a shattering 3.2sec (this was 31 years ago, don’t forget). The latter figure was achieved in first gear, so no need to throw the lever and waste precious time or motion in that benchmark sprint. And the lever itself acted for me as a metaphor for the obsessively particulate degree of thought that pervaded every last detail of the F1. The obsessively particulate thoughts of one Gordon Murray.

You see, merely transferring race tech to the road was not going to be enough when it came to the creation of ‘the world’s best car — built for the most discerning and limited market to transcend existing standards and vehicle design by a large factor and by virtue of design and marketing to become the most wanted vehicle in the automobile world. Those are Murray’s words, in the introduction to his ‘Project 1’ product manifesto, a treatise conceptualising what would become the F1, which he presented to his co-directors at McLaren in 1989.

And despite all the uncompromising effort that went into designing and building a groundbreaking composite structure, and the development of what many reckon to be the world’s greatest ever production-car engine, it is reckoned that the endeavour to achieve flawless execution of the original gearchange geometries and inertia weights was greater than for any other single aspect of the car. All topped off by the perfect gearknob.