VIN: the Ray Bellm McLaren F1 chassis 046
History of chassis 046
Chassis 046 was the 39th F1 production car built from a total run of 64 units. Of these, 14 were completed in 1995.
046 was commissioned by British pharmaceutical magnate, Ray Bellm, for his 46th birthday. Bellm configured the car in a unique colour known as Genesis Blue Metallic. The interior was upholstered in blue leather with a matching alcantara dash, light grey carpet and a red driver’s seat insert.
Between 1983 and ‘89, Ray Bellm had raced a variety of Group C2 cars from Chevron, Tiga and Spice, the latter of which he co-founded with Gordon Spice in 1985. Prior to parting ways with Spice in 1990, Bellm secured the C2 category of the World Sportscar Championship on three occasions (1985, 1986 and 1988).
After a four year sabbatical, Bellm returned to front-line competition with a Porsche 911 3.8 Carrera RSR for the 1994 season. Along with fellow F1 owner, Thomas Bscher, Bellm became a key figure in convincing Ron Dennis to sanction an F1 GTR programme for 1995. Bellm subsequently went on to establish the Gulf-backed GTC Motorsport operation with Michael Cane which ran various iterations of the F1 GTR from 1995 to 1997.
Ray Bellm retained chassis 046 for several years, after which the by now Magnesium Silver car found its way to Juan Barazi. While in Barazi’s ownership, 046 appeared on the front cover of Classic Sportscar magazine (September 2003 edition). The car then passed through the hands of a third owner before its acquisition by the current custodian, Clive Joy, in 2012.
Mr Joy subsequently had 046 returned to its original colour scheme and has creditably added a substantial number of miles to the odometer.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Evo Magazine - https://www.evo.co.uk/
