McLaren F1

Everyone talks about it in hushed tones but it’s not really that complicated
‘It’s just a car. Mechanically it’s very straightforward, almost basic. The brakes and steering aren’t power assisted and there’s no traction control. Everyone talks about it in hushed tones as being one of the ultimate supercars but it’s not really that complicated.'

Brave words, but Dean Lanzante can walk the talk. Lanzante Limited has looked after maybe 15 McLaren F1s since the car’s launch, and it’s the only company apart from McLaren itself that has this level of experience. Yet it charges a modest £38 per hour labour.

‘We have good facilities, but we don’t have dollybirds sitting outside the workshop manning a reception desk,’ explains Dean. ‘And while our hourly rate is certainly very modest for, say, rebuilding an engine, the same rate applies if, for example, we’re transporting a car back from the Nürburgring. It all averages out to a bill that’s acceptable for the customer yet allows us to go the extra mile in making sure a car is properly presented.’

That casual mention of the ’Ring is a clue to Lanzante’s main focus, which is motor sport. The company was founded by Dean’s father Paul (who had previously worked at Maranello Concessionaires and for Tyrrell) almost 30 years ago, and the F1 connection goes back to 1995, when the Lanzante-prepped Veno Clinic GTR won outright at Le Mans.

‘We don’t actually deal with many road cars,’ explains Dean. ‘We only really got involved when a customer asked us if we could have a go at sorting out a gearbox problem. We said OK, not knowing quite what to expect, and found it was relatively simple to repair. As I said earlier, the F1 is not an especially complicated car.

‘The one big job on the F1 is changing the fuel tank. It’s a bag tank and it has to be replaced every five years, for insurance reasons. That means removing the rear suspension, taking the engine and ’box out, and disconnecting the air conditioning, so it all adds up to a big bill: we usually estimate 100 hours labour, plus nearly four grand for the tank itself.

‘But a lot of those 100 hours will be spent in attending to other tasks while the engine is out. For example, we’ll usually give the clutch a check over. The clutch will typically need a service every 6000 miles; it’s a multi-plate carbon unit and it might last less than that if the car is regularly driven hard. Equally, it may just need shimming to be given a new lease of life. We haven’t changed the clutch in the ex-Ray Bellm car since 1996.

‘Otherwise there are no real nasties. The engine is chain driven, so the only belts are for the water pump and alternator, both of which can be changed in situ – just about. It uses BMW M3 plugs, which aren’t cheap but are easy to replace; if an F1 starts to run a bit rough, changing the plugs will often cure it. These are very reliable engines.’

All very positive, but while F1 ownership may not be horrendously expensive, it is not cheap either. A flick through some recent invoices reveals that a set of brake pads costs £236 – they have to be machined to fit the calipers – and a replacement windscreen is £2500. The same money buys the lower section of a front bumper, remade to original spec by Lanzante’s carbonfibre specialist, while a pair of rear wishbones is priced at £3000. Not outrageous for bespoke items, mind you.

Fabricating stuff from scratch comes as second nature for Lanzante’s six mechanics, who all have experience in various motor sport disciplines. The F1 is just one of the cars they look after – when Octane visited, a Ferrari 166MM and the GT40 pedalled by Adrian Newey were in the shop. As Dean sums up without a hint of boastfulness: ‘Crosthwaite & Gardiner rebuild Auto Unions, so I think we can manage an F1…’