Bio: Chris Dawes, Micromuse & McLaren F1 chassis 017
Although several McLaren F1s have been involved in serious accidents, the fiery demise of chassis 017 in 1999 attracted an especially large amount of press attention. Three people were killed in the crash including the car’s owner, Chris Dawes.
Dawes was a multi-millionaire software developer whose increasingly eccentric behaviour in the prior months was manna from heaven for Fleet Street.
Born in Australia, Dawes dropped out of university to take a job repairing pinball machines. He then started a business upgrading Apple Macintosh computers before heading to England in 1987.
From the loft of his rented flat in Fulham and with a loan from the Greater London Enterprise Board, Dawes launched Micromuse in 1989.
Micromuse produced network management software for complex telecoms data and was picked up by the likes of BT, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Cellular One and AOL who paid millions to incorporate it into their systems.
Micromuse became one of the world’s fastest-growing computer companies and was soon operating in more than 50 countries.
The firm moved to San Francisco in 1997 and, in February 1998, was floated on the stock market.
The flotation netted Dawes a huge influx of cash, however, going public meant he no longer owned the company and he quickly started to lose interest.
Now worth in excess of £100m, Dawes went on a spending spree. He purchased jets, helicopters, property and a fleet of almost 60 exotic cars. According to his sister, Dawes spent over £10m in a single week when he bought a helicopter, a jet and a house in Amsterdam which was on the market for £3m. Dawes offered £3.5m for the Amsterdam property if the occupants could be out by the next day: they were.
In England, Dawes purchased Merks Hall, a mock Georgian mansion in Great Dunmow, Essex. The price was £2.5m and plans were made for a huge underground garage to showcase Dawes’ rapidly expanding car collection.
Dawes was also taken with the Channel island of Alderney and wanted to turn it into a playboy paradise.
Over the course of six months in 1998 he spent £2.5m on three hotels and three homes. He famously purchased the Chez Andre hotel for £475,000 by writing out a cheque after only ten minutes in the bar. He then spent another £300,000 on refurbishments.
By this time, Dawes was mixing with celebrities, strippers and gangsters; he had a fascination with the criminal underworld and was experiencing the kind of thrills you didn’t get in the boardroom. Wild drug and alcohol-fuelled parties lasted for several days and Dawes allegedly started to front the cash for some major narcotics deals.
With his paranoia increasing, Dawes became obsessed with security. He began bugging his own phones and installed hundreds of security cameras. He employed half a dozen ex-SAS bodyguards and travelled in a fleet of bullet proof cars.
Micromuse was expanding but Dawes’ lifestyle had begun to trouble investors. In October 1998 he was replaced as president of the company. Dawes cashed in a further £24m of shares and resigned as chairman in November.
That same month, Dutch police answered an emergency call to an Amsterdam hotel where Dawes was found among some of Europe’s biggest suspected drug smugglers. While Dawes was not charged with anything, police began watching his movements.
By this time, Dawes had reputedly developed a taste for crack cocaine and, when police raided his Fort Coblets mansion on Alderney in late 1998, they found £2000 worth of the drug.
The police had initially been called by a woman who claimed she had been held hostage for three days, plied with drugs and alcohol and repeatedly raped.
Over the new year, Dawes spent several days in a Guernsey jail cell. His helicopter and jet were impounded and searched by Customs.
Dawes appeared in court in January 1999 and was set to face trial later in the year on charges of intent to supply crack cocaine. Other allegations were also mounting including two of sexual assault. Furthermore, authorities had concerns about his business interests on the island of Alderney; at least two companies registered there were run by known members of the Russian mafia who were laundering drug money.
Despite these legal problems, Dawes continued his lavish spending and, in February 1999, purchased two McLaren F1s.
The first was Calypso Red (chassis 017) and was acquired direct from McLaren.
The second was a delivery mileage example painted Mercedes Brilliant Silver (chassis 068). This car was bought from Duncan Hamilton Ltd. However, Dawes did not live long enough to take delivery of the silver car.
Just after 1pm on March 21st 1999, Dawes took 017 out for a drive with his personal assistant, Fiona Newman (aged 35) and an Australian architect named David Lamp (37) who had stayed overnight after a party.
Following a heavy downpour, Dawes, by now aged 39, crashed 017 at an accident black spot on the A120 less than half a mile from his Essex mansion.
Leaving the road at over 100mph, the McLaren hit a tree which split the car in two and ruptured the fuel tank. The ensuing fire was so intense that even the carbon tub burned ferociously. The engine was found 50 yards up the road.
The three occupants were killed instantly and had to be identified through dental records.
All remnants of the car were crushed; nothing was salvageable.
Although the coroner ruled a verdict of accidental death, in the weeks before the crash, Dawes had given his father a list of eight people he said wanted him dead. The conspiracy plot thickened as there were no skid marks at the scene and one witness described seeing a fireball before the car hit the tree.
Bizarrely, a large portion of Dawes’ estate was left to UK crime-fighting charities.
Merks Hall was sold to fellow McLaren F1 owner, Liam Howlett from The Prodigy.
As for Micromuse, it was sold to IBM in December 2005 for $865m in cash.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia, Quinlan Terry Architects - https://qtarchitects.com/ & IBM: https://www.ibm.com
