One of the most fabled and most sought-after supercars in the history of supercars is about to have its first offspring.
For the past 13 years, the McLaren F1 has captivated car enthusiasts the world over as one of the fastest and most acclaimed production cars in history. And now that the company has – for the very first time – decided to introduce new models in the coming years, fans of the fabled super car are waiting with baited breath for the day when the new McLarens will be unveiled.
While the cars have yet to be revealed let, alone be named, rumors have been spread that three new models are expected to be rolled out of Woking, England. One of the said models happens to be an entry-level sports car (at least for McLaren standards) that is expected to fetch a price tag of $100,000 while another model rumored to be in production is a V8 sports car that will most likely go head-to-head –to-head with the Ferrari F430s and the Lamborghini Gallardos of the world.
The last of the three models is McLaren’s new crown jewel – the direct successor of the McLaren F1.
Continued after the jump.
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The McLaren P11 was shown at a press event in the U.K. last week. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, but Autocar was able to confirm hat we already suspected. When the car arrives around 2011 it will be powered by a reworked Mercedes V8 and will carry many design elements of the McLaren F1.
The real shocker from the event was McLaren’s ambition for the future. The British firm wants to make about 4,000 examples of the P11 annually, and the supercar firm doesn’t plan to move this amount of cars through budget pricing. Antony Sheriff, managing director of McLaren Automotive, said the cars will be "more exclusive and priced at a premium" compared to rivals. The P11’s expected €100,000 price tag (currently about $130K), which is higher than a Porsche 911, but it is well under a 911 Turbo
There are also reports that the supercar company wants to expand into a three-car lineup, including an F1 revival. To full accomplish this, McLaren needs to appear to stand on its own. It’s building its own dealer network as well as planning a brand new factory.
McLaren just can’t seem to keep the P11 inside. Last week it was caught playing in the snow, and now here’s a new spy shot showing testers letting the cold get inside the car. We can now see that the supercar is sporting A-pillar hinged doos much like another McLaren product, the Mercedes SLR.
The P11 will go into production in 2010 and will compete with models like Ferrari F430. Rumors suggest the car will be powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine that will deliver at least 500 hp. The body and chassis will both be made of lightweight carbon composites, so it should tip the scales at under 2500 lbs. The 0 to 60 mph sprint will be made in around 4 second and top speed should be around 200mph.
After the first spy shot of the McLaren P11, the future supercar has been caught again. This time the P11 prototype was caught doing some cold weather testing in Sweden.
The P11 will go into production in 2010 and will compete with models like Ferrari F430. Rumors suggest the car will be powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine that will deliver at least 500bhp. The body and chassis will both be made of lightweight carbon composites, so it should tip the scales at under 2500 lbs. The 0 to 60 mph sprint will be made in around 4 second and top speed should be around 200mph.
McLaren has plans to lose the top on its P11 supercar. It’s unclear if the roadster is considered a second car in the three car plan, but the rendering above does seem like the P11 was always made for open top motoring.
The setup of the car is geared toward lightweight and strength. Under the skin of the P11 seems to be a carbon fiber tub connecting two aluminum subframes. One subframe carries the front suspension, and the other carries the engine, transmission and rear suspension assembly.
Previous reports suggested that the engine for the P11 would be a 6.2-liter V8 sourced from Mercedes. According to Autocar, McLaren will be utilizing the smaller 5.5-liter unit and will have the German engineering firm Mahle rework the entire unit.
McLaren is one of the most successful race teams in Formula One, but unlike rival Ferrari, it doesn’t make many road cars. Its current supercar, the Mercedes SLR McLaren, was a relative disappointment, particularly when judged against the impossibly high yardstick of its predecessor, the McLaren F1, which remains one of the quickest, fastest and all-around best-performing supercars of all time. So when the Woking, England-based firm announced the development of the P11, potential customers began calling the factory, which has already taken dozens of orders long before the car has even been unveiled.
British magazine CAR claims to have the inside line on the supercar, having spoken with some of the engineers working on the project – McLaren is said to be in the process of hiring more –and have put together an educated guess on the car’s spec sheet. While the F1 diced it with the likes of the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959, and the SLR took on the Enzo and Carrera GT, the car tentatively code-named P11 is expected to go down-market (that being a relative term, of course) to target the likes of the 430 Scuderia and 911 GT2. Power is anticipated to come from sibling-company AMG’s 6.3-liter V8, putting some 500 horsepower down through the rear wheels for a sub-4-second run to sixty and a top speed over 200 mph. Expect carbon-ceramic brakes to figure into an aluminum and carbon-fiber package sized in between Audi’s TT and R8.
CAR claims its renderings are fairly close to the mark for the supercar that will launch in 2010 and be produced in annual runs of less than 5,000. Don’t expect the car to be dipped in chrome like its grand prix stable-mates, though.<
After the first spy shots and a look at the clay design model, AutoExpress had a good base to make this rendering of the future McLaren P11 supercar. The P11 will go on sale in 2010 and will move the company sightly more mainstream as it competes with models like the Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari F430.
The design of the P11 may be trying to connect it with the McLaren F1. The large dual-gill air intakes are almost an inverted version of the F1’s brake vents; the wraparound sideglass takes a similar hilltop shape; and front shares the same large hoodline with dual headlights under one housing. What is not expected from the F1 are items like the gold insulation in the engine compartment and the center driving position.
Under the hood, McLaren likely will place a mid-mounted 6.2-liter V8 engine that will deliver 500 hp. The engine will drive the rear wheels via a semi-automatic transmission with race-inspired steering wheel paddle shifters. The 0 to 60 mph sprint should be made in under 4 seconds while top speed will go up to 200 mph.
After last week’s spy shots revealed the rear of the future P11 supercar, today a very lucky guy caught it from the front. The P11 is a low-volume supercar that should go on sale in 2010.
Powering the car is expected to be a Mercedes-sourced 6.2-liter V8 engine that will deliver at least 500bhp. The body and chassis will both be made of the latest carbon composites, so the weight will be down to under 2500 lbs. The 0 to 60 mph sprint will be made in around 4 second and top speed should be around 200mph.
After yesterday’s images of the official clay model, AutoExpress now has caught the McLaren P11 live in the (camouflaged) flesh. From this spy shot we can tell that large design elements from the clay model such as the large door scoop that integrates the rear-air intake have made it onto this tester car. One element we are pretty sure will not make it to production is the large dorsal fins running along the roofline.
Powering the car is expected to be a Mercedes-sourced 6.2-liter V8 engine that will deliver at least 500bhp. The body and chassis will both be made of the latest carbon composites, so the weight will be down to under 2500 lbs. The 0 to 60 mph sprint will be made in around 4 second and top speed should be around 200mph.
The P11 will go on sale in 2010 carrying a price tag of anywhere between £150,000 and £200,000.
Car revealed today the first images of the official clay model of the future McLaren P11 supercar. The P11 will compete with models like the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo and will be launched in 2010. Prices are hoped to be between be between £150,000 and £170,000, but the low-volume supercar make may see costs drive the price as high as £200,000. Because of this cost flux, we won’t even bother to speculate pricing in the U.S.
The P11 may be powered by Mercedes AMG-sourced a 6.2-liter V8 (possibly) turbocharged engine. It will be a mid-engined supercar featuring a rear-drive layout. The top speed will be around 200 mph, while the 0 to 60 mph sprint will be made in less than four seconds.
The P11 is seen as a somewhat successor to the McLaren F1. Just like the F1, the P11 is expected to break 200 mph. But back in 1992 when the F1 was introduced, 200+ mph was a rarity (the F1’s 231 mph top speed held the record for about a decade.) Instead the P11 is looking to be more mass market. There were slightly over 100 total F1s produced, while production for the P11 is targeted for over 5000 a year.
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