The story behind Beatles’ George Harrison’s McLaren F1 inspired by Hinduism

Beatles is one of the most famous bands in the world. Some of their songs are still considered to be a hit. Their lead guitarist, George Harrison used to own a McLaren F1 which is a legendary car in the automobile industry. His McLaren F1 was finished in a nice shade of Dark Purple which gave the supercar a stealthy look. Here, we have some pictures of the George’s McLaren F1. The pictures were originally shared by AutomobiliArdent on Facebook.

What is special about this McLaren F1 is that it takes some inspiration from the Hindu religion. On all four wheel hubs, an ‘Om’ symbol is present. Even the steering wheel has the same symbol. Unfortunately, we do not have pictures of the interior and the steering wheel.

There are some other special touches made to this F1 too. Harrison made Gordon Murray, creator of McLaren F1, insert idols of Lord Ganesh in various parts of the car and even between layers of carbon fibre. Moreover, the chassis of this F1 has Gayatri Mantra written on it. Only Gordon Murray knows where Gayatri Mantra is written. Moreover, the F1 comes with lit-up housing for a Ganesha idol between the seats.

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The current owner of this McLaren F1 is Simon Kidston, a British car collector. He also owns six other McLaren F1s. All these seven F1s will be showcased at the Retromobile Paris Exhibition. Speaking of Harrison himself, he spent a substantial amount of time in India. He believed in the Hindu religion and believes so much that he decided to convert his religion.

McLaren F1

Gordon Murray was working on the one plus two seating concept since 1969. One plus two seating is very rare in the automobile industry. Some other well-known cars with the same seating configurations are McLaren Speedtail, Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale and Gordon Murray T50.

The engine was taken from BMW, it was designed by Paul Rosche. It was a naturally aspirated, 6.1-litre, V12 petrol engine capable of producing a massive 627 Ps of max power and 650 Nm of peak torque. It was mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox that drove the rear wheels only. That was a massive power output considering that the F1 was launched in 1992 and weighed just 1.1 tonnes.

The F1 was one of the first cars to use a monocoque chassis made up of carbon fibre. There were other expensive materials used too. For instance, there was titanium, gold, kevlar and magnesium. The engine compartment used gold foil as a heat shield.

McLaren F1 hit a top speed of 386 kmph. It could hit a ton in just 3.2 seconds. Till now, the McLaren F1 holds the world record for the highest top speed for a car with a naturally aspirated petrol engine.

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