McLaren utilizes a 20-year-old Compaq laptop to preserve its F1 supercar

McLaren’s F1 supercar indeed continues to surprise us with many of their unique points. Even now it’s still the world’s fastest production car with a naturally aspirated engine, and McLaren just built 106 F1s. Jalopnik went to McLaren and discovered another special aspect to the F1: a 20-year-old laptop. McLaren is still servicing the existing 100 F1s with a Compaq laptop dating back to early ’90s.

“The factor we require those particular Compaq laptop computers is that they run a bespoke CA card which is set up into them,” discusses a McLaren spokesperson to Jalopnik. “The CA card is an interface between the laptop software (which is DOS-based) and the vehicle.”

McLaren has been sourcing Compaq LTE 5280 laptops to keep servicing the F1s, however the firm is “working on a brand-new interface which will be compatible with contemporary laptops” so it will not have to keep searching for these ancient machines. In the meantime, a 20-year-old Compaq is the key to servicing among the world’s fastest production cars.