VIN: Gordon Murray's McLaren F1 Prototype chassis XP3
History of chassis XP3
After the static F1 Clinic Model, McLaren built five operational F1 prototypes, all of which used the XP chassis prefix.
XP3 was painted Silver.
Throughout 1993, it was used for endurance testing at a variety of circuits around the UK and Europe. During this time, XP3 was driven by the likes of Mika Hakkinen and Jonathan Palmer.
Palmer famously hit 231mph in XP3 at the 7.5 mile Nardo ring in southern Italy. The car could undoubtedly have gone faster had it not been for the tight nature of the circular track.
Like XP2 and XP4, chassis XP3 was built with small front indicator clusters and single tail lights. Uniquely, it also featured fog lights mounted in the front apron.
At the end of the F1 programme, ownership of XP3 was transferred to chief designer, Gordon Murray, who had a stipulation in his contract that he would receive a car.
At the time, XP3 was the oldest F1 extant; XP1 had been destroyed in a testing accident and XP2 had been crashed to gain type approval.
Gordon Murray had joined McLaren as the team’s Technical Director in 1987. Murray’s move to Woking followed a 17 year spell at Brabham. When Bernie Ecclestone bought Brabham at the end of 1971, Murray was promoted to Chief Designer.
In the years that followed, Murray designed several radical F1 machines, most notably the BT44B and BT46B ‘Fan Car’. His low-line BT55 of 1986 set the tone for the all-conquering late eighties McLarens.
Highlights of Murray’s time at Brabham were the 1981 and 1983 Drivers’ Championships won by Nelson Piquet. At McLaren, he oversaw the hat-trick of Driver and Constructor titles won between 1988 and 1990.
Murray’s attention was then focused on the F1 road car project which he had proposed to Ron Dennis on the way back from the 1988 Italian Grand Prix.
Prior to Murray taking delivery, XP3 was refreshed and converted to the standard twin tail light configuration. It was road registered for the first time in February 1998.
Gordon Murray retained XP3 until September 2018, at which point the car was sold to a new custodian via dealer and fellow F1 owner, Simon Kidston.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com
