McLaren F1...almost powered by Isuzu!!

[dave]

Hey guys,

I came across this article the other day:

https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/201 ... refer=news

If you can't be bothered reading it, here's the basic rundown.

Essentially the condensed history of the mighty McLaren F1 supercar, it goes through McLaren's engine choices while they prototypes the car. They first approached their Formula One partner Honda; the Honda-powered McLaren MP4/4 racecar had won 15 of the 16 races for the 1988 F1 season after all; however Honda declined to be involved.

Apparently Isuzu were also working on their own F1 engine! And they were quick to contact McLaren and ask to be considered! However, McLaren rejected Isuzu, citing their lack of a racing pedigree as the reason.

What a shame; it's true Isuzu hadn't done a billion races compared to Honda's motorcycling and F1 heritage, but they had a lot more experience in touring cars and the DOHC GTR engine was known for being peaky and reliable, albeit 20 years old by that stage. Dammit! What a combination that would have been!

History shows that BMW's engine was amazing and it's possible the McLaren F1 may not have been the car that it was with anything lesser.

But still, an irresistible 'what-if' to consider!

Cheers,


Dave

[67GT]

Wow, that would have been so cool.
I wonder what engine they would have used ?
I believe that Isuzu was developing a ceramic engine back then, V8 I think ?

[PR91]

Isuzu built a V12 engine for Formula 1 back in the day too. Lotus wanted it, said it was the best engine they'd ever had, but still didn't use it.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$......

[67GT]

Would make an interesting conversion into a Bellett or Wasp.

[dave]

"interesting"

Balls-out batshit crazy!!!