McLaren Tooned
July 30, 2012 7:47 PM Subscribe
Formula 1 powerhouse McLaren not
only designs good cars, they've
commissioned a series of YouTube cartoons featuring
Jenson Button and
Lewis Hamilton, their
current drivers.
Episode 1,
Episode 2,
Episode 3
McLaren have been my team since I was 8 years old. This is very good, and Lewis won at the Hungaroring yesterday, making it McLaren's 150th race win.
posted by arcticseal at 7:56 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by arcticseal at 7:56 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
The cartoon version of Jenson kinda resembles the main character in "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs", doesn't he? But then, the pit crew is also a lot like the Minions in "Despicable Me" but in a more natural skin tone.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:20 PM on July 30, 2012
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:20 PM on July 30, 2012
Oh cool, there's a third one out ... thanks.
I sent the first two to a long time friend of mine who's a big time McLaren fan. He said he laughed pretty hard.
I like McLaren okay; I was a bigger fan of the founder & Denny Hulme way back when, but Ron Dennis bugs me. That guy's so uptight, he makes Roger Penske look like Bootsy Collins. But hey, his team, so he can run it as he sees fit (and yeah, I know that Whitmarsh is running the team these days).
posted by Relay at 8:51 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I sent the first two to a long time friend of mine who's a big time McLaren fan. He said he laughed pretty hard.
I like McLaren okay; I was a bigger fan of the founder & Denny Hulme way back when, but Ron Dennis bugs me. That guy's so uptight, he makes Roger Penske look like Bootsy Collins. But hey, his team, so he can run it as he sees fit (and yeah, I know that Whitmarsh is running the team these days).
posted by Relay at 8:51 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I've been a fan of McLaren since the Bruce and Denny Show of the late sixties. When the team merged with Ron Dennis' Project 4 (which explains the MP4 prefix in the names of their cars) it lost some of the personality. Nowadays, Dennis' aesthetic permeates everything they do. You can't imagine that they know what "fun" is.
And yet, on the fortieth anniversary of Bruce McLaren's death, they celebrated by firing up one of his massively mental Can Am cars on the forecourt of their pristine Technical Center. Jensen and Lewis went to the company's warehouse of old cars to find Ayrton Senna's MP4-4 (the most dominant F1 car in history, winning 15 of 16 races in 1988) and looked like school kids sitting in it. Or their unique preparations for the Singapore GP, the first night race in F1.
McLaren's people are very serious about their racing, but they also remember their history and can have fun with themselves as well. These toons poke fun at their history, their reputation, and you know they're willing to take the piss of themselves. Bravo.
posted by Not The Stig at 9:54 PM on July 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
And yet, on the fortieth anniversary of Bruce McLaren's death, they celebrated by firing up one of his massively mental Can Am cars on the forecourt of their pristine Technical Center. Jensen and Lewis went to the company's warehouse of old cars to find Ayrton Senna's MP4-4 (the most dominant F1 car in history, winning 15 of 16 races in 1988) and looked like school kids sitting in it. Or their unique preparations for the Singapore GP, the first night race in F1.
McLaren's people are very serious about their racing, but they also remember their history and can have fun with themselves as well. These toons poke fun at their history, their reputation, and you know they're willing to take the piss of themselves. Bravo.
posted by Not The Stig at 9:54 PM on July 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
they have a car with a mirror finish parked outside
You mean like Justin Bieber's eco feel-good electric Fisker Karma? Yeah, that's annoying.
On a similar note, I'm continually amazed when I come up behind semis on the interstate with the same mirror finish on their back doors. Blinding when following at night, absolutely retina-searing when traveling in the opposite direction of the sunrise or sunset.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 11:54 PM on July 30, 2012
You mean like Justin Bieber's eco feel-good electric Fisker Karma? Yeah, that's annoying.
On a similar note, I'm continually amazed when I come up behind semis on the interstate with the same mirror finish on their back doors. Blinding when following at night, absolutely retina-searing when traveling in the opposite direction of the sunrise or sunset.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 11:54 PM on July 30, 2012
Those McLaren cartoon should be terrible, because it's a corporate-sponsored advertisement for one of the more "boring" companies in F1. But I found them very funny (Mansell's moustache, anyone?) and charming.
I used to be a Williams fan in the Mansell days, but now I have to be a McLaren fan because I live very near to their factory. You do see a fair few orange caps around town.
posted by milkb0at at 1:46 AM on July 31, 2012
I used to be a Williams fan in the Mansell days, but now I have to be a McLaren fan because I live very near to their factory. You do see a fair few orange caps around town.
posted by milkb0at at 1:46 AM on July 31, 2012
Mirror finish, though. The entire body.
Even more ridiculous than that is the current fashion for (Batman-inspired?) matte black finish. While it looks tolerable on an angular car like a Lamborghini or a Nissan GT-R, it's positively hideous on a more curvaceous one like a 911 (yes, of course it's Beckham's!). And a matte black Bentley or (good heavens!) Bugatti Veyron just scream "more money than sense" IMHO.
Anyway, when I see a matte black car, regardless of how well that finish matches the car, I always get the urge to purchase some chalk and start working on it...
posted by Skeptic at 2:30 AM on July 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
Even more ridiculous than that is the current fashion for (Batman-inspired?) matte black finish. While it looks tolerable on an angular car like a Lamborghini or a Nissan GT-R, it's positively hideous on a more curvaceous one like a 911 (yes, of course it's Beckham's!). And a matte black Bentley or (good heavens!) Bugatti Veyron just scream "more money than sense" IMHO.
Anyway, when I see a matte black car, regardless of how well that finish matches the car, I always get the urge to purchase some chalk and start working on it...
posted by Skeptic at 2:30 AM on July 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
Matte paint is horrendous to keep up. You can't run it through a car wash, for one thing-hand washes only. And the stuff is a dust magnet.
posted by Not The Stig at 4:06 AM on July 31, 2012
posted by Not The Stig at 4:06 AM on July 31, 2012
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Mirror finish, though. The entire body.
posted by Huck500 at 7:55 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]