THE LINE - FEBRUARY 13, 2013

(McLaren Automotive)

According to McLaren Automotive, the McLaren P1™ has a clear goal: "to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track." As McLaren drips out information about the P1 before the Geneva show, the latest missive focuses on the driving environment. Light weight – as with the rest of the car – is a priority and McLaren is a pioneer in the use of carbon fiber. The P1 uses the material extensively throughout, not least in the MonoCage chassis and the aerodynamically-shaped body panels, but also inside the two-seat cabin. It is used for the dashboard, floor, headlining, doors, rockers and a single piece is shaped for the central control unit to further optimize weight. Even more attention to detail figures in as the top layer of resin has been removed to leave the carbon non-lacquered for a more natural look, saving an additional 1.5kg. The amount of trim covering within the cabin has been minimized, leaving as many parts as exposed as possible, and there is no interior sound deadening in order to optimize weight saving even further. Carpet is offered - as an option - but when chosen, it is fitted with a special lightweight backing. Switchgear is kept to a minimum, yet the McLaren P1 retains luxury features such as full climate control, satellite navigation and a bespoke sound system, developed from the outset with Meridian. According to McLaren the racing bucket seats use the minimum amount of foam, are encased in ultra-thin carbon fiber shells, and are mounted on lightweight brackets and runners, contributing to an overall weight of just 10.5kg each. The seat backs are fixed to 28 degrees from the vertical, but can be set to 32 degrees to make them more suitable for racing as it will give more helmet head room. The height of the seat will be custom set to suit the driver and passenger and then can be subsequently adjusted in the workshop. Fixings for a six-point race harnesses are in place, in addition to inertia reel seat belts. The steering wheel diameter is "as technically precise as a McLaren racing driver’s wheel. This is because past McLaren world champions’ grips were modelled on a CAD system and scanned to produce an exact replica." The rim is finished in Alcantara, with carbon fiber inserts. The production-ready McLaren P1 makes its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Ford (Brazil). Ford Brazil had a different take for the launch of the Fusion. They brought back Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell to have another go at each other in the cars. Watch the four episodes here, here, here and here.

(Digital art by Neillsen Hines)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: AE reader and graphic designer Neillsen Hines loved my suggestion that the Corvette should be a separate brand within GM, so much that he has envisioned a Corvette Racing LMP1 car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Here, in his own words, are his thoughts behind the illustration: "I loved your column on how Corvette should be its own separate brand. I've been thinking the same thing for years... I know you said there was no chance that they will do it, but I came to the conclusion it is quite possible. If GM develops a Le Mans Prototype Corvette racer that is successful and I mean successful in that it wins the LMP class, it would send the message that Corvette is at the pinnacle of performance technology. It worked for Audi and it definitely can work for GM. I've done some rendering of what a Corvette LMP1 Racer can possibly look like." Thanks to Neillsen for his imaginative take. - PMD

(BMW)
BMW will replace the BMW M3 GT with the new BMW Z4 GTE in the American Le Mans Series for 2013. BMW Motorsport and BMW Team RLL presented the car and drivers for the new season last Tuesday. BMW Motorsport also announced the driving pairs for the coming season. Car No. 55 will be driven by Bill Auberlen (US) and ALMS rookie Maxime Martin (BE). Dirk Müller (DE) will contest all the races in the No. 56 car. Joey Hand (US) and John Edwards (US) will alternate as the two-time ALMS GT champion’s driving partner. Edwards will stand in for Hand when he is unavailable due to his parallel commitment in the DTM. Jörg Müller (DE, No. 55) and Uwe Alzen (DE, No. 56) will bolster the squad at the endurance races at Sebring (US) and Road Atlanta (US). Why the switch? The BMW Z4 GTE is considerably more compact than its successful predecessor, the BMW M3 GT, for starters. And oh, by the way, the Z4 GTE will have a BMW V8 racing engine in it, something that you can't get in the production version.

(GM)
The Chevrolet SS will be the first V-8, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan from the Chevrolet brand since 1996. The 2014 Chevrolet SS will debut at the Daytona International Speedway as the SS racer makes its NASCAR debut during the Daytona 500. See more about the new SS in "On The Table."

All American Racers is sad to announce that Phil Remington passed away in his sleep Saturday morning, February 9th, just 2 weeks after his 92nd birthday. "Rem” joined AAR in the fall of 1968 after an already stellar career in the motor racing world. He was universally admired and recognized as the greatest fabricator of his time. Until his health started failing last summer Phil never missed a day of work, he was an example both professionally and personally to legions of young people who studied under him and who worked by his side .

It will be difficult for us to walk by his old wooden workbench on the shop floor and not hear the sound of his hammer or see a smile break out on his face having just finished his latest masterpiece. Our heartfelt condolences go to his daughter Kati, his son-in-law Dave and his two grandsons Tynan and Brady.

On the occasion of his 80th and 90th birthdays we wrote tributes to Phil which we think capture the man and his life and work, we like to present some excerpts here: Watching Tom Hanks try to get off the island in the movie "Castaway" a few years ago, all we could think of was "Where is Rem?" Had the legendary Mr. Fix- it, motor racing’s best known fabricator been there, they would have been off that island in no time. Phil would have known how to hammer together a boat from bark and build a make-shift helicopter from old socks. He was a one man fire brigade which the top factory racing teams called upon when in trouble.

In 44 years at our company, nobody remembers Phil missing a day of work. His ability as a fabricator, designer, draftsman, engineer and all- technical - problem - solving- genius has inspired three generations of racers be it behind the wheel, in the pits or on the shop floor. A huge number of alumni of AAR's Remington University have gone on to establish their own often formidable careers in the racing industry.

Born in 1921 in Santa Monica, cradle of the hotrod civilization, Phil served as a flight engineer in the South Pacific in World War II. After the war he started racing hotrods on the dry lakes. A severe motorcycle accident which almost cost him a leg, finished this particular career and launched another. He found out what he could do with his hands, a hammer and a piece of metal. And he could do it faster and better. And so the journey began which took him around the world with the greatest racing teams of the day. He was with Lance Reventlow in Monte Carlo when he ran the first American F I car, he helped the Ford Shelby Cobra Team win the Championship over Ferrari in 1965, he was in the pits when Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt won Ford's biggest victory at Le Mans in 1967, he joined Holman and Moody on the Southern circuit and led an endurance test for Ford Motor Company through hazardous Afghanistan in the middle 50s.

He was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the Gurney Eagles dominated the Indy car scene in the early 70s. He saw Bobby Unser drink that precious bottle of milk after winning the Indy 500 in 1975 in an Eagle which Rem helped build and naturally he was at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen when the GTO Celicas and GTP Eagles won IMSA Championships. Phil - literally - had a hand in every victory.

Modest, handsome, outspoken, politically incorrect, proud, fiercely competitive, cantankerous, enthusiastic and blessed with a wicked sense of humor, he became a respected and beloved elder statesman at the company. After his wife Joy died in 2000, he lived on his own shunning any talks of help or of retirement. Last spring at 91 years of age, Phil was part of the AAR crew which built the DeltaWing - what a fitting finale to a great life in the motor racing industry!

Justin Gurney, AAR CEO, said Phil's merciless work ethic and can-do attitude reverberated throughout the shop and will continue to be a shining example in the future. "Most of us in the younger generation have known Mr. Remington for our entire working lives. Considering his robust health almost to the very end, we were tempted to think he would live forever. We have been in awe of his talents and afraid of his scorn. If something was not done to his exact specifications, the hammer came down... If for instance he did not like the music emanating from somebody's radio, he would not hesitate to saw it in half during lunch hour. Next time we hear thunder, it might just be Rem with his homemade hammers repairing the Pearly Gates."

Dan Gurney called Phil AAR's ‘Rock of Gibraltar'. "He was a marvel, an old salt and an inspiration to young and old. We owe him a ton of gratitude for all the good things he has done for us and many other racing teams through the last half century. He was an original and can never be replaced. God's speed Rem, we love you and we will miss you every day".

Further data on Phil Remington's life and career can be found on our webpage www.allamericanracers.com. An article “Mr. Fix-it” by Preston Lerner which appeared in the July edition of Sports Car International Magazine in 1980 is posted in the "archive" section.