July 16, 2018

Behind the scenes at tomorrow’s Barons Summer Classic Auction

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We’ve been behind the scenes today setting up for tomorrow’s Barons Summer Classic Car Summer Classic auction.

With 4 cars in we’ve had a busy morning getting everything ready:

1925 Riley Redwing,ย 1969 Jaguar E-Type ,ย 1970 Jaguar E-Type and shell and parts for Jaguar E-Type.

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Plans for our 1971 Bedford

Today we received the initial plans for our 1971 Bedford J Series truck. Forget the colours for now, the truck will be extended at the rear to house a bespoke corrigated box that will house the kitchen.

The truck will be used in the centre of London offering street food of an Indian cuisine. Mahesh, the new owner, has big plans for the future of our J series and we look forward getting our teeth stuck into the restoration journey.

I’m sure there will be a few tweaks and alterations to the design but for now we are very exciting to be getting on.

Stunning McLaren at Sandown Racecourse

Having set up for tomorrow’s Summer Classic Car at Sandown Racecourse we were just leaving the site to head to the hotel when we come across this stunning Volcano Orange McLaren MP4-12C.

Such a stunning colour and has given us some great ideas for future projects.

Source: Wikipedia

Theย McLaren MP4-12C, later known simply as theย McLaren 12C, is aย sports carย designed and manufactured byย McLaren Automotive. It is the first production car wholly designed and built by McLaren since theย McLaren F1, which ended production in 1998. The car’s final design was unveiled in September 2009, and was launched in mid-2011.

The MP4-12C features aย carbon fibre compositeย chassis, and is powered by a mid-mountedย McLaren M838Tย 3.8-litreย V8,ย twin-turboย engine developing approximately 592ย hp (441ย kW; 600ย PS) and around 443ย lbโ‹…ft (601ย Nโ‹…m) of torque. The car makes use ofย Formula 1-sourced technologies such as “brake steer”, where the inside rear wheel is braked during fast cornering to reduceย under steer. Power is transmitted to the wheels through a seven-speedย dual-clutch transmission.

A convertible version of the car called theย MP4-12C Spider, renamed theย 12C Spiderย in 2012, is also available. In February 2014, McLaren announced the relatedย 650S, with revised bodywork, upgraded engine and other technical improvements. In April 2014, McLaren announced the end of production of the 12C

Development

McLaren started developing the car in 2007 and secretly purchased aย Ferrari 360ย to use as a test mule. The mule calledย MV1ย was used to test the 3.8-litreย twin-turbochargedย V8 engine. The car also featured side vents for additional cooling which were later incorporated in the final production model. Later in the year, the company purchased anย Ultima GTRย to test the braking system and suspension components, that mule was called theย MV2. The space frame and body of that car were modified in order to accommodate the new components. Later another prototype was purchased which was another Ferrari 360 dubbed theย MV3ย which was used to test the exhaust system. McLaren then built two prototypes themselves calledย CP1ย andย CP2ย incorporating theย Carbon Monocellย monocoque which were used for testing the heat management system and performance. The final car was unveiled to the public on 9 September 2009 before the company’s launch in 2010.

Design

In 2008, McLaren hiredย Frank Stephensonย as design director for their reborn production car project.

As with theย McLaren F1,ย carbon fibreย is used extensively in the vehicle to minimise weight. The MP4-12C weighs 1,301ย kg (2,868ย lb) dry.

Theย chassisย is based around a F1 style one-piece carbon fibre tub, called the Carbon MonoCell, weighing only 80ย kg (176ย lb). The MonoCell is made in a single pressing by using a set of patented processes, using Bi-Axial and Tri-Axial carbon fibre multiaxial fabrics produced by Formax UK Ltd. with the MonoCell manufactured by Carbo Tech inย Salzburg, Austria. This has reduced the time required to produce a MonoCell from 3,000ย hours for the F1 and 500ย hours for theย Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, to 4ย hours for the MP4-12C.

The car has a conventional two side-by-side seating arrangement, unlike its predecessor the McLaren F1 which featured an irregular three seat formation (front centre, two behind either side). To make up for this however, the car’s central console is narrower than in other cars, seating the driver closer to the centre. Interior trim and materials can be specified in asymmetric configuration โ€“ known as “Driver Zone”.

Engine

The car is powered by theย M838Tย 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, designed and developed by McLaren,ย Ilmorย andย Ricardo. The design of the engine was based on a racing engine which was designed and developed byย Tom Walkinshaw Racingย for the IRL Indy Car Championship but never raced. However, other than the 93ย mm bore, little of that engine remains in the M838T. It produces 592ย bhp (441ย kW; 600ย PS) and 443ย lbโ‹…ft (601ย Nโ‹…m) of torque. It has a redline of 8,500ย rpm, with 80% of torque available at just 2,000ย rpm. When first announced, McLaren claimed that it would have a higher horsepower toย carbon dioxideย emission ratio than any internal-combustion engine available at the time.

McLaren announced a small number of improvements to become available in October 2012, with the option to be retrofitted to existing cars free of charge. The engine now produces 616ย bhp (459ย kW; 625ย PS) and no change to the CO2ย emissions which remain at 279ย g/km. This power output has also become standard on the 2013 model.

The M838T engine is manufactured for McLaren at theย Ricardoย Shoreham Technical Centre in West Sussex.

Transmission

The engine is connected to a seven-speed automaticย dual-clutch gearboxย made byย Graziano Oerlikon. Dubbed the “Seamless Shift Gearbox” or SSG, the gearbox features a system dubbed “Pre-Cog” that allows the driver to preselect the next gear by lightly tapping the paddle.

Performance

DragTimes.com posted a YouTube video of a stock McLaren 12C accelerating from 0 to 60ย mph in 2.8 seconds and from 0 to 100ย mph in 6.0 seconds. DragTimes.com also recorded a quarter mile time for the McLaren 12C of 10.27 seconds at 218ย km/h (135ย mph), the 3rd fastest verified time for a stock production car at the time. The manufacturer has a claimed top speed of 207ย mph (333ย km/h) but a top speed of 346.6ย km/h (215ย mph) was achieved in the MP4-12C Spider, which is 3ย mph “slower” than the coupe. The Coupe (in reality) can do 218.61ย mph (352ย km/h). It can brake from 200ย km/h (124ย mph) to a complete stop in under 5ย seconds. Braking from 100ย km/h (62ย mph) to zero can be done in under 30 metres (98ย ft), around seven car lengths.

2011 McLaren MP4-12C has a power to weight ratio of 2.39ย kg (5.27ย lb) perย horsepower.

2013 McLaren 12C has a power to weight ratio of 2.29ย kg (5.05ย lb) perย horsepower.