This is a 1:2 scale model of the McLaren MP4/4 that was driven by Ayrton Senna to the Formula One World Driver’s Championship title in 1988. It’s one of the most memorable cars in F1 history.
The McLaren MP4/4 is one of the is most successful Formula One car designs of all time, it won all but one race and all but one pole position in the 1988 season, the only season in which it raced. The car would take 15 wins and 15 poles from 16 races, along with 10 fastest laps, it led for 1,003 of 1,031 laps in 1988, and it won both the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship that year.
Above Video: This short film tells the history of the McLaren MP4/4 direct from the McLaren Formula One team.
The design of the McLaren MP4/4 was completed by American engineer Steve Nichols working under team Technical Director Gordon Murray. The car made use of a version of the carbon fiber tub originally developed for the earlier McLaren MP4 – and the first time it would ever be used in F1. It’s now the industry standard, and has been for decades.
One reason the MP4/4 was so utterly dominant was that McLaren committed to it being a turbocharged car, despite the fact that forced-induction would be banned from 1989 onwards. This looming shift to naturally-aspirated cars meant that many F1 teams were either split between turbo and naturally-aspirated cars, or focussed more on naturally-aspirated designs.
The other reason for the MP4/4’s dominance was down to one man – Team Principal Ron Dennis who had somehow managed to convince Honda to switch from Williams to McLaren, bringing their multiple-world championship-winning turbocharged 1.5 liter V6 with them.
The almost-complete dominance of the McLaren MP4/4 would see it voted the single greatest F1 car of all time, by a panel of Formula One engineers and designers. It would also be voted the greatest racing car (of any kind) of the 20th century in a poll in Autosport Magazine.
The 1:2 Scale McLaren MP4/4 Model Shown Here
The half-scale model you see here is ideally suited to indoor display by a Formula One enthusiast, and a McLaren fan in particular. It has mounting points built into the underside, and it can be displayed both vertically and horizontally. It measures in at approximately 7 feet long, by 3 feet wide, and 1 foot tall, and it weighs 62 lbs in total.
This 1:2 scale model of the MP4/4 measures in at 7 feet long, by 3 feet wide, and 1 foot tall. It weighs 62 lbs in total and it can be mounted either vertically or horizontally.
The model is made from a combination of carbon fiber and fiberglass parts, it has no engine of course, but it does have faux suspension components, detailed faux brakes front and back, front and rear wings, fiberglass wheels, Goodyear-branded tires, a seat, steering wheel, and the correct livery for Ayrton Senna’s 1988 McLaren MP4/4.
If you’d like to read more about this unusual scale model or register to bid you can visit the listing on Bring a Trailer here. It’s being sold out of Troy Hills, New Jersey.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
