Chassis Log History
Five new MP4/3 cars were moulded from carbon fibre with assistance from Hercules Aerospace, as since the creation of the all-new MP4/1 in 1981. The chassis numbers, 1 through 5, were used throughout the year, with three new cars ready for the first race in Brazil.
Two MP4/3s were destroyed during 1987, but three complete MP4/3s still exist: Chassis #4 is on display at the Donnington Museum, chassis #5 is still owned by McLaren, and chassis #1, the only one in private hands, belongs to a Porsche collector in the United States and will be auctioned on March 9, 2012 at Amelia Island, FL by Gooding & Company.
#1: Used as a spare car at Rio, Imola, Spa, Monaco, Detroit, Circuit Paul Ricard, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Monza, Estoril, Jerez, Suzuka, and Adelaide. This chassis only raced once, at the aborted start (1st) at Österreichring by Stefan Johansson.
#2: Raced by Johansson at Rio, Imola, Spa, Monaco, Detroit, Paul Ricard, Silverstone, Hockenheim, and Hungaroring. The car was written-off in practice at Österreichring by Johansson, after a deer struck the car, and crashed.
#3: Raced by Alain Prost at Rio, Imola, Spa, Monaco, Detroit, and Paul Ricard. Car modified for Johansson for race use at Österreichring. It was originally a spare car at Mexico, but then raced by Johansson, but written-off in 1st-lap accident.
#4: New car for Prost to race at Silverstone, Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Österreichring, Monza, Estoril, Jerez, Suzuka, and Adelaide.
#5: New car for Johansson at Monza, Estoril, Jerez, Mexico, Suzuka, and Adelaide.
The sixth car, known as the MP4/3B, was a test mule for the Honda turbo engine that would power McLaren's hopes for 1988. The MP4/3B never raced, but was tested by Prost, and later his 1988 team mate Ayrton Senna, until the all-new MP4/4 made its track debut in the Rio tests before the start of the 1988 season (the Honda powered MP4/4 was to become the most dominant single season F1 car ever, winning 15 of 16 races in 1988, including the first 11 of the season). After finishing the role, the sixth car went to Argentina and is on display at the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in Balcarce.
Read more about this topic: Mc Laren MP4/3
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