I worked for McLaren in the building right next door to the one in the first shots. I worked for Tag Electronics building sensors for their (and other teams) engine management systems. I changed departments just before we moved to the MTC. Back then they had TagMclaren audio in full swing. I went into the department that built PCB’s for both the audio side and the engine management systems. Some jobs you should never leave.
Thrust SSC proved the huge aerodynamic forces generated at these speeds far outweigh any issues of weight. Andy Green actually said that weight was a big advantage for keeping the thing on the road.
you can postulate all the possible reasons in the world, bottom line it was scrapped. it either cost too much or didn't go fast enough or served it's marketing purpose. Or all three.
Excellent summary! And just shows what might happen if serious F1 technology was used for the LSR. Their hi-tech approach resulting in a vehicle one-third the size & power of Thrust SSC...
Nicely put together, in Richard Noble's book on Thrust SSC he recounts how he lost a bet with Ron Dennis, sent him the cheque and Dennis never cashed it. I don't have much time for Dennis, but fair play in that case.
I remember the autoweek article about it. It's amazing that it really does look like the drawing they put out in that article! I agree with your reasoning. Thanks for the info!
Very interesting, f1 teams seem like the ideal guys to design record cars! Particuly with the newer f1 rules limiting wind tunnel time for the cars, those tunnels may as well be used for something cool the rest of the time!!!
It's worth watching the Thrust SSC documentaries to understand why the 'build it like a bus' philosophy actually works for LSR cars travelling at enormous speeds. It's an entirely different engineering concept and one not easily translated into lightweight contenders
After really looking at the Thrust SSC build, they made it as light as they could, there's a reason it weighed over 3x the McLaren. I'm pretty sure that thing would've disintegrated long before reaching supersonic.
Weight is your friend in LSR also having the center of gravity infront of the center of pressure give you stability I would think it’s like a dart. With a carbon fiber monocoque and the engine in the back would be the exact opposite of what you would want. This is why Trust SSC have the weight of both jet engines as far forward as they could get.
Ayrton was a great driver, but I do feel like this kind of stuff is best suited for ex-airforce guys, the ones who sit there doing pre-flight checks for half an hour, and have their brain processing 20 different threads at once. As for weight, inertia is a b*tch, but once you're moving and only going in a straight line, it's not the end of the world. Land speed record cars are considerably heavier than conventional automobiles. Just like how we have to make rockets bigger and heavier if we want them to go further.
We're now talking about speeds where weight plays a significant role again, because the longest available stretches of flat desert on the planet are now restrictive. You need the vehicle to accelerate (and decelerate) very well. If you design a very heavy vehicle with very low drag, you will run out of space before getting anywhere near the top speed, that would be useless. Any contender must accelerate so that the record run fits in some 20 kilometres which requires getting to supersonic speed within 45 seconds or so. Being heavy makes that harder :)
McLaren's PR team must look back at these times with envious eyes, oh how the mighty are fallen! Yea, I know, Lando and Carlos Jr. etc.. But 'Nando's Indy debacle? Sad. Bet Ron had a good laugh though. Thanks, interesting and informative video.
Your shows are very informative and well thought out, however your assumption that Mavrick would have gone supersonic is possible but not as easy as saying it. The aero loads & wheel loading at supersonic speeds are much more involved than thought back in the 1990's Nobel's SSC was designed to go well over 800 mph yet was MAXED OUT at 770 mph.
Bruce McLaren would've loved this, you can almost see him smiling. And Ayrton Senna might have driven it. You know, the saddest words ever written of prose and pen were these four words, "what might have been" .
never heard of this till now good vid thanks. wether it could have got the record we will never know but as everone who has ever tried it has found as soon as you start to run the car loads of unforseen problems appear . theory and reality are very different things.Craig Breedlove had a very similar looking car but got nowhere near it.
Being ex Mclaren the reason it was canned was purely commercial. Ron wanted £50 million for it . £25m for the project and £25m for McLaren's technology coffers. It was launched in front of prospective investors and the money wasn't raised. So that was it. They canned it.
Thanks for clarifying - there’s so little info out there about the project, I had to speculate rather than report facts about why it was cancelled. Great to hear from someone who was on the inside!
To me you mentioned the all magical word 'Business' ... it is literally killing anything with spirit about it .. just look at the F1 wreckage .. and besides with deep enough pockets they might also build a wheelbased SR 71 . which I feel is missing the point 😗
I'm interested in many different subjects, and subscribed to as many more channels relating to those subjects. I just want to say that you're channel is the greatest that I have ever seen! Thank you so much for your meticulous research, the information you so enthusiastically impart, and making the most informative, fascinating videos ever.
Looking at this shape. The rear low wing would have been a big problem. An this car would not punch through the sound barrier. Im guessing due to the fact record breaking is really hard thats why Mclaren backed out of the record attempt.
There is something very familiar about the front of it? Reminds me of small fast jets like the Hawk? Using proven existing aerospace technology would seem an obvious move especially as this route of using cut down jet fighters has been done before?
I don't think you can necessarily consider this to be an unfinished project, merely one that is in apparent hiatus. You better believe that Ron Dennis would love to be involved in breaking the land speed record and he has ways of achieving his desires that a lot of people consider unworldly so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this come around again as a development of what was learned with Maverick, but maybe not until after Bloodhound has done its bit...
I always wondered how G. Murray and F1 hypercar fit into this whole picture. Maybe some early vision of Ron Dennis was McLaren holding fastest production car and Fastest car records or maybe Murray convinced Dennis to back road car and scrap Maverick project? Feel almost like interogating Murray right now
Thank God for eccentric rich people pursuing esoteric endeavors. Losing Bloodhound SSC, after all the good it has done in promoting STEM, would have been heartbreaking.
As you say, we'll never know for certain whether McLaren would have succeeded but in the intervening years, there have been indicators that it was by no means a certainty. For the 2012 America's Cup, Ineos teamed with the Mercedes F1 team to produce a challenger for the America's Cup. It was well off the pace compared with the Kiwis who had a smaller, less well funded team but were incredibly flexible and innovative. The same scenario is emerging for the next Cup in 2024 and a repeat could well be on the cards. When an organisation becomes too large and formulaic, innovation, flexibility and true leadership are often early casualties.
In all honesty, I don't know - they'll certainly use bearings (several crashes have been caused over the years by wheel bearing failure at speed), but for the speeds that the record holders and challengers now run I would guess they're using ceramic bearings. Worth keeping an eye on the Bloodhound project for information, as they've been very open about the technology they're using...
@@ScarfAndGoggles Noble, when asked said that they approached a bearing company looking for ultra high speed bearings and was told that such a bearing already existed and was used on very high speed printing presses.......
Just for giggles and grins - let's pretend the Maverick did make two record-smashing runs and set the land speed record at 997.880 mph and the second run an astounding 1,264.620 mph. That is the record now and it still stands.
Anyone who thinks that experience with computer control in a Formula 1 engine equates to experience with a jet engine... seriously...SMH. Apart from that, the differences between a Formula 1 car at speeds that don't even encounter compressibility and those of a transonic/supersonic are simply staggering. For that reason, any conclusion that "it's highly likely that it would also have gone supersonic" is inductive logic based on a simple lack of information. Things like critical drag rise, supersonic base drag, wave drag, Cx, Critical Mach Number and profile drag are not part of Formula 1 or, indeed, any other kind of circuit racing. These are areas which are highly specialised and have no role in motorsport. The only conclusions that can be drawn from this are that McLaren dipped their toe in the water and decided it was not for them. That is entirely fair and reasonable. Success in one area does not guarantee success in another,
Never knew they had this project. Great videos very informative and we'll put together. Keep them coming. Maybe one of the now most likely failed bloodhound project . :( Maybe mclaren can save it?!!?
I was thinking about that. - Somewhere I have a photo of Donald Campbell's driveway which includes a mock-up LSR car not entirely dissimilar in shape to Maverick....
That’s probably why Mclaren haven’t made a full run at Indy car today. They’ve learned to prioritize F1 (as seen with their 5th place finish at Austria)
Interesting video - thanks for uploading. History is littered with "LSR attempts" - Lionheart anyone? There is a huge difference between wanting to and achieving the LSR - making a mock up does not count in my opinion and only screams look at me me me me me..... I'll win no fans here but Mavericks biggest hurdle was that the project was suggested by arguably the most arrogant of companies. with no clue as to the realities of what the project would require - the fact they have Rolls Royce stuck on the side does in no way mean that RR were somehow wrapped up in the venture, by taking the profile of a fast jet and sticking wheels on it (North American Eagle) is not going to work, neither would the short wheel base and how on earth would Senna - a legend at 200 mph have been able to drive at 800...? Please don't get me wrong, I applaud those who push the envelope but the real mavericks are the Campbell's, Breedlove, the Arfon's, etc, more recently Richard Noble, guys with a dream and the drive to explore - its dead easy to throw money at something for attention....
5. McLaren never intended to complete the project. They took it to a point so that it would be a great advertisement with a limited calculated investment.
I think many people are somewhat unsatisfied with ThrustSSC holding the record. It just isn't an "elegant" solution. It's a brute. Yes, it did the job, but we want more - we want a sleek and sexy vehicle. Oh, and we also want it to hit 1,000 MPH... ;-p
Although an incredibly designed car..I really don't see how it's use would translate into increased road car sales..whereas F1 technology can and has been successfully utilized in road cars.
While the cabin theory makes sense, there's the fact you have to balance weight with strength, so maybe they weren't sure about the feasibility of it. Not an expert or insider, just a thought.
Besides the ‘off the shelf’ availability of ejection seats there’s the weight aspect. The bigger the object you wish to eject, the bigger your rockets have to be in order to lift it, plus the cage that the driver is cocooned in would have to be a separate section of the car and the structure of the car would required serious engineering to make it strong enough to carry the cage. Add those two things together, the weight of the rockets and the weight of the structure and it makes no sense to pursue it. There’s a reason aircraft only eject the minimum amount to keep the pilot safe.
I disagree with you. The reason for McLaren not going ahead was investment to failure ratio. They realised that there was a good chance of not beating the SSC so they axed this expensive project. Ron Dennis is not a guy who cares about Goliath vs. David issues. He is a non emotional brutal business guy.
8:10 Ron Dennis new full well that David beat Goliath! and I suspect that's the real reason McLaren pulled out. If beating Nobel would have been bad PR what would loosing to him have been?
Nobel, for all his faults was the absolute guru where LSR was concerned (Breedlove also) - I don't think McLaren were ever serious - just a good bit of PR......
There would be nothing in it for McLaren. Just handing money to the Thrust team as a sponsor would be a fruitless endeavor, and their differences in design philosophy would make collaboration difficult at best. The McLaren looks like a formula1 car, while Thrust resembles a locomotive.
As a fan of what Noble and Andy Green and their entire team managed to accomplish with limited funding by comparison I'm certain that it as a good thing for Dennis and his guys to pull out. Besides the LSR is something completely different from F1 and it likely would have been longer term commitment than even the brilliant Ron would have anticipated. Purely out of curiosity why was it necessary to include pictures of Hamilton in this video that deals with a period at McLaren long before his time?
Thanks for your comment. I’ve only been able to track down 3 pictures of Maverick at the MTC - Hamilton featured in one of them but I needed to use it to show some idea of Maverick’s size compared to the F1 cars on display!
For info, a minor correction: At 0:40 it says that "The story starts in mid-1993", it was actually 04 October 1983 when Richard Noble set the 633mph LSR.
@@Suprahampton hispanic can refer to brasilians, due to about half of brasil at one time being spanish, its not a strict term and doesnt refer to spanish people alone... The portugese could also be considered hispanic.
Maverich ,, i shit you not ,, Tom Cruise would drive it ,,Coultard said he was good enough to be F1 capable , and he has been mach 10 ,, watch the doco " maverick "
Strange to waste so much money and not even try but I'm thinking they were afraid to lose anyway and that wouldn't been very good publicitet, my theory.
@@damezor1 cool and governments like to keep expensive single buy items below inflation, it makes inflation look more reasonable, shall we say... or fits their narrative better.
If I was Elon Musk with the kind of F you money I'd build a car especially since the Bloodhound project is worse than a teenage relationship with it's yo yo like ups and downs.
fw1421 I don't know, Breedlove was up to 600mph, attempting to hit 800, when a 15mph side wind pretty much wrecked his Spirit of America. But he drove it to a stop.
Bloodhound spent £50-60 and never ran! Typical Brits with noses in the trough... McLaren's excuse for halting the project sounds like a plot off The Archers!
@@jimgoodwin6294 I'm English. I was making the point that spending £50 million is typical of today's British engineering projects. Breedlove could have set a Moon Speed Record with £50 million.
We need a clear definition what a " car" means, can u take this mclaren maverick and go shopping, or take girlfriend to beach? My point this are NOT cars but grounded jets, boring
You are confining the definition by what you think a car is. A car is simply a wheeled vehicle that has four or more wheels, 2 wheels being a bicycle, 3 wheels being a tricycle. If it is powered then it’s a car, if it doesn’t have a power source then it’s a gravity racer. The power source in cars have been steam powered, internal combustion engine powered, turbine powered, battery powered and in these cases jet turbine powered. There are ships that have similar engines to aircraft, are those ships water born aircraft? Of course not. Boring? That’s a matter of opinion but I’d suggest you look into the engineering and skill required to manufacture and then develop and drive one of these vehicles, there’s a good reason that the drivers are highly qualified and experienced individuals.
Forgotten? Blimey, I'd never even heard of it!! This was brilliant, thanks so much for this.
I worked for McLaren in the building right next door to the one in the first shots. I worked for Tag Electronics building sensors for their (and other teams) engine management systems. I changed departments just before we moved to the MTC. Back then they had TagMclaren audio in full swing. I went into the department that built PCB’s for both the audio side and the engine management systems. Some jobs you should never leave.
So are bragging? 😮
@@Justfactsi812 heck yeah ☺️. I’m proud to have been part of a multi world championship winning team.
Pretty cool.
Are you an Al bot?
@@montybass65 no just look at the content. I have my own voice and photo on there. We can have a conversation if you like.
Just found your channel. *WOW!*
I’m a huge Motorsport history geek, but I had no idea that this ever existed! Hats off to you on your research!
I am your 3100 subscriber
Thrust SSC proved the huge aerodynamic forces generated at these speeds far outweigh any issues of weight.
Andy Green actually said that weight was a big advantage for keeping the thing on the road.
Yes but you combined lightness with down force its quite possible to make it weigh heavier while moving but weigh less at stand still.
At LSR speeds, a pilot's objective skills and subjective experience were more valuable than whatever Senna could have brought to the project.
amazing all these years and I never knew any of this.
you can postulate all the possible reasons in the world, bottom line it was scrapped. it either cost too much or didn't go fast enough or served it's marketing purpose. Or all three.
Excellent summary!
And just shows what might happen if serious F1 technology was used for the LSR.
Their hi-tech approach resulting in a vehicle one-third the size & power of Thrust SSC...
Awesome, well researched video... I’ve never even heard of this thing. Thank you 👍
When UA-cam keeps recommending a channel so much you didn't realize you had never subscribed.
(suspense builds)
Don't worry, I just subscribed.
Nicely put together, in Richard Noble's book on Thrust SSC he recounts how he lost a bet with Ron Dennis, sent him the cheque and Dennis never cashed it.
I don't have much time for Dennis, but fair play in that case.
Thanks for an enlightening and entertaining channel.
Glad you enjoy it!
crazy. who knew back then that mclaren would have been making sports cars years later and an LSR win under the belt would have been awesome.
Great video! I wasn't aware of Mclarens efforts to try and break the landspeed record! Thank you, enjoying all your videos.
I remember the autoweek article about it. It's amazing that it really does look like the drawing they put out in that article! I agree with your reasoning.
Thanks for the info!
Very interesting, f1 teams seem like the ideal guys to design record cars! Particuly with the newer f1 rules limiting wind tunnel time for the cars, those tunnels may as well be used for something cool the rest of the time!!!
I think you're correct in saying that there is no scenario where McLaren would come out looking like winners out of this.
Never knew this ! It would've been fantastic to see .I think it would've worked .You can bet the technology was unbelievable .
I'm really sorry - you know that how...?
It's worth watching the Thrust SSC documentaries to understand why the 'build it like a bus' philosophy actually works for LSR cars travelling at enormous speeds. It's an entirely different engineering concept and one not easily translated into lightweight contenders
After really looking at the Thrust SSC build, they made it as light as they could, there's a reason it weighed over 3x the McLaren. I'm pretty sure that thing would've disintegrated long before reaching supersonic.
even for Bonneville you want weight to help with traction.
Weight is your friend in LSR also having the center of gravity infront of the center of pressure give you stability I would think it’s like a dart. With a carbon fiber monocoque and the engine in the back would be the exact opposite of what you would want. This is why Trust SSC have the weight of both jet engines as far forward as they could get.
Ayrton was a great driver, but I do feel like this kind of stuff is best suited for ex-airforce guys, the ones who sit there doing pre-flight checks for half an hour, and have their brain processing 20 different threads at once.
As for weight, inertia is a b*tch, but once you're moving and only going in a straight line, it's not the end of the world. Land speed record cars are considerably heavier than conventional automobiles. Just like how we have to make rockets bigger and heavier if we want them to go further.
We're now talking about speeds where weight plays a significant role again, because the longest available stretches of flat desert on the planet are now restrictive. You need the vehicle to accelerate (and decelerate) very well. If you design a very heavy vehicle with very low drag, you will run out of space before getting anywhere near the top speed, that would be useless. Any contender must accelerate so that the record run fits in some 20 kilometres which requires getting to supersonic speed within 45 seconds or so. Being heavy makes that harder :)
flashpeter625 that’s what I said
@@flashpeter625 its more about frontal area. Low weight was just the by-product of the sleeker and more minimalist design.
Looks like Breedlove's car, great design! Never heard of this, with RR engine, thanks!
McLaren's PR team must look back at these times with envious eyes, oh how the mighty are fallen! Yea, I know, Lando and Carlos Jr. etc.. But 'Nando's Indy debacle? Sad. Bet Ron had a good laugh though. Thanks, interesting and informative video.
No more lando!
It's BALDO!!!
Your shows are very informative and well thought out, however your assumption that Mavrick would have gone supersonic is possible but not as easy as saying it. The aero loads & wheel loading at supersonic speeds are much more involved than thought back in the 1990's Nobel's SSC was designed to go well over 800 mph yet was MAXED OUT at 770 mph.
Bruce McLaren would've loved this, you can almost see him smiling. And Ayrton Senna might have driven it. You know, the saddest words ever written of prose and pen were these four words, "what might have been" .
never heard of this till now good vid thanks. wether it could have got the record we will never know but as everone who has ever tried it has found as soon as you start to run the car loads of unforseen problems appear . theory and reality are very different things.Craig Breedlove had a very similar looking car but got nowhere near it.
Being ex Mclaren the reason it was canned was purely commercial. Ron wanted £50 million for it . £25m for the project and £25m for McLaren's technology coffers. It was launched in front of prospective investors and the money wasn't raised. So that was it. They canned it.
Thanks for clarifying - there’s so little info out there about the project, I had to speculate rather than report facts about why it was cancelled. Great to hear from someone who was on the inside!
@@ScarfAndGoggles Ron asked me to look at the composite structure as I was head of composite engineering for the F1 supercar programme at the time.
That makes a lot of sense.
To me you mentioned the all magical word 'Business' ... it is literally killing anything with spirit about it .. just look at the F1 wreckage .. and besides with deep enough pockets they might also build a wheelbased SR 71 . which I feel is missing the point 😗
I'm interested in many different subjects, and subscribed to as many more channels relating to those subjects. I just want to say that you're channel is the greatest that I have ever seen! Thank you so much for your meticulous research, the information you so enthusiastically impart, and making the most informative, fascinating videos ever.
Glad you're enjoying the channel!
Looking at this shape. The rear low wing would have been a big problem. An this car would not punch through the sound barrier. Im guessing due to the fact record breaking is really hard thats why Mclaren backed out of the record attempt.
Wow from New Zealand
They had the budget, the only thing that makes sense is that they didn’t think they’ll stand a chance beating anything
To me that's most likely too and that wouldn't been good publicitet, why waste so much money otherwise and not finish.
There is something very familiar about the front of it? Reminds me of small fast jets like the Hawk? Using proven existing aerospace technology would seem an obvious move especially as this route of using cut down jet fighters has been done before?
Yes, with disastrous results. Google Jessie Combs.
Have you looked at doing anything on Art Arfons attempt from the late 80’s & Early 90’s?
I don't think you can necessarily consider this to be an unfinished project, merely one that is in apparent hiatus. You better believe that Ron Dennis would love to be involved in breaking the land speed record and he has ways of achieving his desires that a lot of people consider unworldly so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this come around again as a development of what was learned with Maverick, but maybe not until after Bloodhound has done its bit...
I always wondered how G. Murray and F1 hypercar fit into this whole picture. Maybe some early vision of Ron Dennis was McLaren holding fastest production car and Fastest car records or maybe Murray convinced Dennis to back road car and scrap Maverick project? Feel almost like interogating Murray right now
Thank God for eccentric rich people pursuing esoteric endeavors. Losing Bloodhound SSC, after all the good it has done in promoting STEM, would have been heartbreaking.
i wonder if newey was involved , what a shame it never ran , great history cheers
No, Newey worked for Williams at the time, a few years before he joined McLaren.
I 1st heard the name McLaren regarding Can Am in the 60s
Maverick have wings in the back, that will create a shock wave. This will cause the back end to become unstable, or to flip on its side.
As you say, we'll never know for certain whether McLaren would have succeeded but in the intervening years, there have been indicators that it was by no means a certainty. For the 2012 America's Cup, Ineos teamed with the Mercedes F1 team to produce a challenger for the America's Cup. It was well off the pace compared with the Kiwis who had a smaller, less well funded team but were incredibly flexible and innovative. The same scenario is emerging for the next Cup in 2024 and a repeat could well be on the cards. When an organisation becomes too large and formulaic, innovation, flexibility and true leadership are often early casualties.
Agreed - there's always room for a small, focussed team to succeed!
There is one thing i always wondered about these high speed jet cars : do the wheels have ball bearings ? If yes , how do they manage with the heat ?
In all honesty, I don't know - they'll certainly use bearings (several crashes have been caused over the years by wheel bearing failure at speed), but for the speeds that the record holders and challengers now run I would guess they're using ceramic bearings. Worth keeping an eye on the Bloodhound project for information, as they've been very open about the technology they're using...
@@ScarfAndGoggles ok thx
@@ScarfAndGoggles Noble, when asked said that they approached a bearing company looking for ultra high speed bearings and was told that such a bearing already existed and was used on very high speed printing presses.......
Jet engines and Turbo chargers can run at over 150000rpm
Oh Wow!...what a beautiful car!...I sure wish that one could have run.
Just for giggles and grins - let's pretend the Maverick did make two record-smashing runs and set the land speed record at 997.880 mph and the second run an astounding 1,264.620 mph. That is the record now and it still stands.
Anyone who thinks that experience with computer control in a Formula 1 engine equates to experience with a jet engine... seriously...SMH.
Apart from that, the differences between a Formula 1 car at speeds that don't even encounter compressibility and those of a transonic/supersonic are simply staggering. For that reason, any conclusion that "it's highly likely that it would also have gone supersonic" is inductive logic based on a simple lack of information. Things like critical drag rise, supersonic base drag, wave drag, Cx, Critical Mach Number and profile drag are not part of Formula 1 or, indeed, any other kind of circuit racing. These are areas which are highly specialised and have no role in motorsport.
The only conclusions that can be drawn from this are that McLaren dipped their toe in the water and decided it was not for them. That is entirely fair and reasonable. Success in one area does not guarantee success in another,
Wasnt forgotten, was simply unsuccessful.
The only serious competition of the ThrustSSC team, was Craig Breedlove
Never knew they had this project. Great videos very informative and we'll put together. Keep them coming. Maybe one of the now most likely failed bloodhound project . :( Maybe mclaren can save it?!!?
Needs Marlboro sponsorship.
can you also cover the obscure Bluebird Mach 1.1/CMN-8?
Stay tuned - it’s on the list...!
I was thinking about that. - Somewhere I have a photo of Donald Campbell's driveway which includes a mock-up LSR car not entirely dissimilar in shape to Maverick....
Thanks for your comment! I’ve since posted a video about this here ua-cam.com/video/bfatyXk2Afo/v-deo.html
That’s probably why Mclaren haven’t made a full run at Indy car today. They’ve learned to prioritize F1 (as seen with their 5th place finish at Austria)
In the late '60s/ early '70s Mclaren were in Can-Am, F1 & supplied cars to Indy
I would like to see what Maverik would have done.
What happened to this innovator, technology pioneer company? It's so sad to see them struggling in the middle of the F1 grid.
Interesting video - thanks for uploading.
History is littered with "LSR attempts" - Lionheart anyone?
There is a huge difference between wanting to and achieving the LSR - making a mock up does not count in my opinion and only screams look at me me me me me.....
I'll win no fans here but Mavericks biggest hurdle was that the project was suggested by arguably the most arrogant of companies.
with no clue as to the realities of what the project would require - the fact they have Rolls Royce stuck on the side does in no way mean that RR were somehow wrapped up in the venture, by taking the profile of a fast jet and sticking wheels on it (North American Eagle) is not going to work, neither would the short wheel base and how on earth would Senna - a legend at 200 mph have been able to drive at 800...?
Please don't get me wrong, I applaud those who push the envelope but the real mavericks are the Campbell's, Breedlove, the Arfon's, etc, more recently Richard Noble, guys with a dream and the drive to explore - its dead easy to throw money at something for attention....
What kind of car is that @1:23?
black one? MR2 Gen.2
Looks remarkably like Donald Campbell's Bluebird Mach 1.1 / CN8 that mysteriously went missing after his death.
I did a video about that! Agree, it has certain similarities...
Could not have done it. Land speed racers who have been setting records for years know it takes a hammer to break the sound barrier, not a needle.
A brilliant analysis worthy of a university theses
5. McLaren never intended to complete the project. They took it to a point so that it would be a great advertisement with a limited calculated investment.
I think many people are somewhat unsatisfied with ThrustSSC holding the record. It just isn't an "elegant" solution. It's a brute. Yes, it did the job, but we want more - we want a sleek and sexy vehicle. Oh, and we also want it to hit 1,000 MPH... ;-p
If anything the ThrustSSC project was the Goliath.
Although an incredibly designed car..I really don't see how it's use would translate into increased road car sales..whereas F1 technology can and has been successfully utilized in road cars.
Instead of an ejection seat , why not an ejection cabin ?
While the cabin theory makes sense, there's the fact you have to balance weight with strength, so maybe they weren't sure about the feasibility of it. Not an expert or insider, just a thought.
Also development costs. You can buy zero altitude rated ejector seats off the shelf. If you want an escape pod its all one-off custom engineering.
Ejecting anyone out at 800mph is certain of one thing - headlines on the news.......
Besides the ‘off the shelf’ availability of ejection seats there’s the weight aspect. The bigger the object you wish to eject, the bigger your rockets have to be in order to lift it, plus the cage that the driver is cocooned in would have to be a separate section of the car and the structure of the car would required serious engineering to make it strong enough to carry the cage. Add those two things together, the weight of the rockets and the weight of the structure and it makes no sense to pursue it. There’s a reason aircraft only eject the minimum amount to keep the pilot safe.
@@vernonbear The biggest problem is survivability.
I think was more about Road Car F1 Gordon Murray other priority Thank for video
I’m a big McLaren fan so that was great. Thanks
You're welcome Ernie - glad you enjoyed it!
A fast jet pilot was the only realistic choice, had this gone ahead.
Low weight seems like a good idea until you realize that above 300mph you're fighting aerodynamic drag *AND* lift.
Yep - making a plastic model doesn't count - I could do that and stick an RB211 in it - doesn't mean anything....
Haaa ya Mercedes in 1999 learned that the hard way lol.
I disagree with you. The reason for McLaren not going ahead was investment to failure ratio. They realised that there was a good chance of not beating the SSC so they axed this expensive project. Ron Dennis is not a guy who cares about Goliath vs. David issues. He is a non emotional brutal business guy.
8:10 Ron Dennis new full well that David beat Goliath! and I suspect that's the real reason McLaren pulled out. If beating Nobel would have been bad PR what would loosing to him have been?
Nobel, for all his faults was the absolute guru where LSR was concerned (Breedlove also) - I don't think McLaren were ever serious - just a good bit of PR......
Interesting
It’s a great shame that McClaren did not directly support the Thrust SSC project.
There would be nothing in it for McLaren. Just handing money to the Thrust team as a sponsor would be a fruitless endeavor, and their differences in design philosophy would make collaboration difficult at best. The McLaren looks like a formula1 car, while Thrust resembles a locomotive.
@@brinx8634 Would have been nothing in it for Thrust SSC either.
As a fan of what Noble and Andy Green and their entire team managed to accomplish with limited funding by comparison I'm certain that it as a good thing for Dennis and his guys to pull out. Besides the LSR is something completely different from F1 and it likely would have been longer term commitment than even the brilliant Ron would have anticipated. Purely out of curiosity why was it necessary to include pictures of Hamilton in this video that deals with a period at McLaren long before his time?
Thanks for your comment. I’ve only been able to track down 3 pictures of Maverick at the MTC - Hamilton featured in one of them but I needed to use it to show some idea of Maverick’s size compared to the F1 cars on display!
For info, a minor correction: At 0:40 it says that "The story starts in mid-1993", it was actually 04 October 1983 when Richard Noble set the 633mph LSR.
Not much to say about this other than Dennis was one massive ego and frankly was full of his own self importance.
There - said it....!
Hey Mclaren, give Lando a spin in one of these.
could McLaren pick up the project?
6:00. Couldn't help but think Henry Cavill for a Senna bio pic.
??? senna was basiclaly a dwarf? a hispanic dwarf- henry cavil? wha?
@@deadprivacy Face wise in that single shot, my first thought was Henry Cavill
@@deadprivacy Hispanic? He was Brazilian
@@Suprahampton hispanic can refer to brasilians, due to about half of brasil at one time being spanish, its not a strict term and doesnt refer to spanish people alone... The portugese could also be considered hispanic.
This car would have crushed the record imo
That bulging canopy can act like an airfoil and produce lift at high speed. That would have had to be redesigned.
Curious droid is that you?
Nope - that’s very flattering and I’m a fan of Curious Droid but I’m not the same guy!
Maverich ,, i shit you not ,, Tom Cruise would drive it ,,Coultard said he was good enough to be F1 capable , and he has been mach 10 ,, watch the doco " maverick "
That's a hell of a lot of money, spent for nothing.
Please use a compressor/normalizer on your voice over.
X-15 engine
Surprising bloodhound didnt employ some of this design approach
Not surprising at all. Looks pretty crude.
Called Maverick,not the Maverick.
Strange to waste so much money and not even try but I'm thinking they were afraid to lose anyway and that wouldn't been very good publicitet, my theory.
Get Woke (Woking) Go Broke.
How do you justify the figures to cash? It cost the same to buy a car today as it did then...
based on inflation.
more people are buying cars, so cars are cheaper to make based on the economy of scale.
@@damezor1 cool and governments like to keep expensive single buy items below inflation, it makes inflation look more reasonable, shall we say... or fits their narrative better.
Id like to see the Russians make an atempt,they certainly have not only the hardware but also the men to do the job!🇷🇺
terrible logo for maverick
If I was Elon Musk with the kind of F you money I'd build a car especially since the Bloodhound project is worse than a teenage relationship with it's yo yo like ups and downs.
Stick Alonso in it and let's get it done!!!
The Maverick would have killed the driver should it have an accident.
fw1421
I don't know, Breedlove was up to 600mph, attempting to hit 800, when a 15mph side wind pretty much wrecked his Spirit of America. But he drove it to a stop.
@@happydays8171 Aaaah... no. He was a passenger by then!
Landspeed record breaking. Beat record by two miles and you are a hero, miss it by two miles and you are a multi million dollar joke.
Bugatti veyron/chiron - fastest car
SSC: hold my beer
So in short, McLaren waisted a ton of money.
Perhaps Elon Musk with his rocket engineers and electric engines can break this record. It’s not rocket science. 😉
Ah, yes it is...
Not Musk please...
Who cares
Bloodhound spent £50-60 and never ran!
Typical Brits with noses in the trough...
McLaren's excuse for halting the project sounds like a plot off The Archers!
Bloodhound is still going....and is attempting 1000mph which is a far greater technical challenge than Thrust SSC...
@@davidmacdonald1695 The car will overturn when the rocket is switched on.
with £50million they could have set a Moon Speed Record.
But we still hold the LSR - do you?
@@jimgoodwin6294 I'm English.
I was making the point that spending £50 million is typical of today's British engineering projects.
Breedlove could have set a Moon Speed Record with £50 million.
@@rosewhite--- Sorry - what absolute tosh. Britain still holds the LSR even if you pretend they don't.......
We need a clear definition what a " car" means, can u take this mclaren maverick and go shopping, or take girlfriend to beach? My point this are NOT cars but grounded jets, boring
You can't do those things in some road cars.
You are confining the definition by what you think a car is. A car is simply a wheeled vehicle that has four or more wheels, 2 wheels being a bicycle, 3 wheels being a tricycle. If it is powered then it’s a car, if it doesn’t have a power source then it’s a gravity racer. The power source in cars have been steam powered, internal combustion engine powered, turbine powered, battery powered and in these cases jet turbine powered.
There are ships that have similar engines to aircraft, are those ships water born aircraft? Of course not.
Boring? That’s a matter of opinion but I’d suggest you look into the engineering and skill required to manufacture and then develop and drive one of these vehicles, there’s a good reason that the drivers are highly qualified and experienced individuals.
A big "Who Cares?"