McLaren F1

Chief engineer at McLaren Gordon Murray's design concept for the McLaren F1 was that of a dreamer. Ever since he was a kid he had been thinking of making a three-seat sports car and on a flight home from the Italian GP in 1988 he drew his first sketch of what would later be the F1. Upon his arrival to McLaren he proposed his concept to Ron Dennis. The car would be heavily influenced by the technology developed by their Formula One program and therefore reflect their skill , knowledge and technology through the newly developed car.

The concept was approved and now it was time for them to find a power plant. The two of them along with Ayrton Senna visited Honda's Tochigi Research Center to begin their search. Honda was developing their NSX along with Ayrton so Murray gave it a go and the car completely reset all his benchmarks he had set for performance cars. Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghini's were no longer the benchmark manufacturers. Honda's NSX was. 

Of course the McLaren's speed would have to far surpass that of the NSX but it must retain the NSX's ride quality and handling characteristics. Being a fan of Honda engines, Murray later went to Honda's Tochigi Research Center on two occasions and requested that they consider building for the McLaren F1 a 4.5 litre V10 or V12. In his own words, "I asked, I tried to persuade them, but in the end could not convince them to do it, and the McLaren F1 ended up equipped with a BMW engine." 

Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars with chassis numbers 12 and 13 (aka "Albert" and "Edward") were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 as well as the seats and brakes. 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. Unfortunately both cars were destroyed once McLaren was done with them so they could never be associated with "kit cars".