McLaren is working on a car to slot in the middle of its ‘Ultimate Series’ cars. This was what Mike Flewitt announced at Pebble Beach Concours last week. Right now, the Ultimate Series consists of the GBP750,000 McLaren Senna and the GBP2,100,000 McLaren Speedtail. A new car will be priced between these two extreme extremes.
What will this New Model Be Like?
First of all, it still doesn’t have a name, but perhaps McLaren Automotive will stick to the new theme of giving it a proper name that starts with ‘S’. Lower down in the hierarchy, ‘Sports’ and ‘Super’ series cars still mostly use alphanumeric designations coupled with a Bodystyle indicator.
What we do know is that the car is going to be a two-seater with an open cockpit. Only 399 units will be made, which, again sits between the 106 Speedtail and 500 Senna models that were produced.
As with those models, the new one will feature Mclaren’s carbon fibre construction, swing-up dihedral doors and their twin-turbocharged V8 engine.
What is the Ultimate Series?
As some of you might remember, the Ultimate Series used to just be the F1 GT-R and variants of it.
Then came the big revival when McLaren Automotive spun off their racing team and concentrated on production cars. This first resulted in the MP4-12C. But then the company got serious about making cars and created three distinct categories with many, many models using the same three ingredients: Mclaren branding & design, carbon fibre construction and a twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine.
About McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive is a creator of luxury, high-performance sportscars and supercars.
Every vehicle is hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey, England.
Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group.
The company has defined product families: Sports Series, Super Series, Ultimate Series and Motorsport which are retailed through over 80 retailers in more than 30 markets around the world.
McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1. Then in 1993 it designed and built the McLaren F1 road car – the company has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis since. As part of the Ultimate Series, McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1™.
Announced at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018, the company’s Track25 business plan will see it invest £1.2billion in research and development to deliver 18 new cars or derivatives by the end of 2025.
In 2018, the company launched the 600LT and the first two cars of Track25, the McLaren Speedtail, the next Ultimate Series, and McLaren’s first ever Hyper-GT, and 720S Spider. It also opened a new £50m McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region in the North of England that will see it produce the next generation of lightweight carbon fibre ‘tubs’ that are at the heart of all McLaren cars.
2019 saw McLaren launch the 600LT Spider confirmed as the third car of Track25, with a new GT car announced and the previously-confirmed track-only Senna GTR unveiled.
To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative sportscars and supercars, McLaren Automotive partners with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise, technology and solutions. These include Richard Mille, Pirelli, Dell Technologies, Ashurst, AkzoNobel and OnePlus.
