Going neck-and-neck with the VW ID.3 and ID.4 in Europe in 2021.

Much more significant than the showing of specific EV models, is the growing market share of EVs in the total new car market in Europe. Already at 7.9% for the first half of 2020, and up to 8.7% for sales in July, the magic 10% market share now seems to be just months away. Ten per cent of market share is seen as the magic number because every previous technology disruption proved to be unstoppable once the magic number had been reached. With Tesla now back on track to increase deliveries to Europe and the VW ID.3 on the cusp of taking Europe by storm, Europe seems to be in pole position to lead the disruption of the ICE car industry, 135 years after it introduced the technology to the world.

The McLaren F1, designed by South African-born Gordon Murray and still regarded as one of the best supercars ever produced, is recognised as the spiritual predecessor to the Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) T.50 supercar. But did you know XP1, the first production-bodied F1, was registered (well, temporarily at least) in South Africa?

Yes, after it was built at Woking in record time (Murray wanted the car completed before Christmas 1992, leading to what is still known within the McLaren team as ‘The Lost Weekend’) XP1 was sent to Namibia for hot-weather testing. (During the development of the F1 altogether five XP models were used, as well two Ultima Mk3 kit cars named ‘Albert’ and ‘Edward’.)

For the Namibia tests early in 1993, XP1 had to come through South Africa and it was registered here, receiving the number plate AGW655T. Now, for those old enough to remember, the Transvaal registration system at the time only allowed for consonants, not vowels, so it probably was temporary, or so-called “dealer” plates.

Registered and ready, testing commenced on the long, straight roads of Namibia but on 24 April 1993, it came to an inglorious end. Driven by a BMW engineer wearing only shorts and a T-shirt, the XP1, while travelling more than 240 km/h hit a culvert on the side of the road and rolled “several times” before ending up on its roof.

A testament to the F1’s crashworthiness, the driver was uninjured and managed to exit the destroyed vehicle through the broken windscreen seconds before the hot fluids ignited and the remains of XP1 literally went up in (hugely expensive) flames…

After the incident, according to the book

by Doug Nye, Ron Dennis and Murray, the then head of McLaren Dennis ordered that all wreckage from XP1 be collected from the desert and returned to Woking.

Apparently, all the pieces were put in a box and then buried near the McLaren Museum, with a tombstone erected to mark the final resting place of the first F1 production prototype. It is not known whether its South African registration plate also ended up in that box but XP1 is listed on the McLaren road car registry as the first prototype F1 – with registration number AGW655T…