Mclaren cars

2013 McLaren MP4-12C Spider Gemballa GT by Gemballa

Last year, German tuner, Gemballa, returned to the Geneva Motor Show with a number of aftermarket offerings, one of which was for the McLaren MP4-12C.

This year, Gemballa is headed back to Geneva, and low and behold, it has another McLaren MP4-12C that it’s bringing to the show, only this time, it’s the MP4-12C Spider.

Should anybody look for a more individual twist to the mighty British supercar, Gemballa has the answer in the form of its GT package for the 12C Spider. Just like the program for the coupe version, the 12C Spider features a carbon fiber aero kit of which the most significant components appear to be new front and rear bumpers, side skirts, new tailpipes, a logo kit and a new set of 21-inch Gemballa GForged-one wheels available in either "black magic," "gunmetal,” or an individual color of the customer’s choosing.

Inside, the modifications aren’t all that plenty either. There’s the usual leather and Alcantara upholstery, as well as instrument dials that customers can also have customized in colors of their choice.

No performance upgrades were announced, so don’t expect to see any when the MP4-12C Spider Gemballa GT makes its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.

Should you find the program suitable to your tastes, you can pick it up for a pretty steep price of €47,166, which is about $62,000 based on current exchange rates.

UPDATE 05/17/13: A fresh batch of photos of Gemballa’s McLaren MP4-12C Spyder have been released. Check it out by clicking on the gallery below!

2013 McLaren MP4-12C Chimera by Fab Design

In the past few weeks, we have seen tons of upgrade packages for the McLaren MP4-12C and the 2013 Geneva Motor Show will bring another one. This time the package is from Fab Design and it is simply called Chimera.

In developing the new package, Fab Design focused on improving aerodynamic efficiency and weight optimization. As a result, the package starts with a new sporty front spoiler made from carbon fiber and an innovative wind splitter on top of the hood. The tuner continues with four-component side skirts made from carbon fiber, new air intakes also in carbon fiber and for the rear, a new apron and diffuser made of the same material.

Aesthetics are great, but performance is where the real fun is and Fab Designs scratched that itch just a little bit with a new exhaust system that features triple-flow end pipes. This exhaust system frees up an additional 15 from the already powerful engine.

If you are interested, this upgrade will cost you a total of €16,900 (around $23,000 at the current exchange rates).

Along with the exterior package, Chimera also receives a set of ultra-light wheels, sized 9.0-by-20 inches up front and 10.5-by-21 inches at the rear. These wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.

For the interior, the tuner is offering numerous elements in orange-colored carbon and decorative orange stitching.

Video: McLaren P1 Chased by Ferrari 458 Spider

Easy question: how many time do you think you will have the chance to drive a drop-top Ferrari 458 and catch a McLaren P1 out for a test drive? Pretty much never. But Youtube user Shmee150 seems to be the only guy in the Universe with such an amazing luck.

The guy was out for a ride in a friend’s 458 Spider, when he spotted a McLaren P1 supercar. It is pretty easy to imagine that he has started to chase the P1 supercar and managed to shot this impressive video.

The problem is that when the P1 driver realized he was being chased he took his car back to the McLaren Technology Center. Unfortunately for him, he got stopped behind a broken down Peugeot on the roundabout outside, and Shmee150 used the opportunity to take some close shots of the next P1 supercar.

Repairs for Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1 Eclipses $1 Million

There are a handful of cars that cost over $1 million. However, for repairs for a car to hit seven figures, well, that’s unheard of…

Not anymore, apparently.

Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1, which was destroyed during an accident that occurred back in August 2011, is now up and running again. Now, repairing a totally mangled supercar of the stature of the McLaren F1 takes a pretty long time, as McLaren engineers will attest after spending more than a year restoring the car to run again. With that much time spent on just putting the car back together, costs for the repair eventually ran up to the tune of £910,000 ($1.44 million).

That figure is even more remarkable considering that it’s three times as expensive as any other repair claim that has been documented in the UK. Just a hunch: Mr. Atkinson’s insurance company will no doubt raise his insurance rates after this deal – whether they paid for it or not.

Granted, it’s a McLaren F1. But still, $1 million for repairing a car is just absurd.

Note: Photo above is not Rowan Atkinson’s restored McLaren F1

Video: McLaren 50 - Courage

As you probably know, this year marks McLaren’s 50th anniversary and the company announced some cool events to commemorate the event. The celebration continues today with the unveiling of a video that "sheds light on McLaren’s very human backstory."

You probably guessed it, the video talks about Bruce McLaren, who founded his racing team five decades ago. The story of the video ends with the crash at the Goodwood circuit in 1970 when Bruce McLaren died at the young age of only 32 years old.

Our favorite part of the video is the following: "What might be seen as a tragic end was in fact a beginning. As I always said, to do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. Indeed, life is not measured in years alone but in achievement."

A very sad, yet inspiring video that any car buff will enjoy.

Rumormill: McLaren to Stop Taking P1 Orders in Mid-February

When it comes to the upcoming McLaren P1 we have seen it all, but we do not know any concrete details about it. How’s that? On one hand, we may say we know how it looks because we have seen a concept version of it, but we all know that the production version may feature a slightly different design. Additionally, everyone is speculating about its engine, but McLaren hasn’t released any final specifications just yet.

So you see, you may think you know a lot about the upcoming P1 supercar, but in fact none of us know any real details on it.

Despite the missing details, everyone has to agree that the P1 will be an amazing supercar according to what we saw with the concept, what McLaren promised us and what people who have tested the prototype version have said.

With this is mind you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that McLaren has been flooded with orders for their upcoming supercar. In fact, they have received so many requests that they are now ready to close the order book.

A McLaren owner who placed a deposit for the P1 suggested that the company had already taken deposits for about 120 units and will close order book in mid-February. We can’t be too sure what this means exactly, since initial details suggested McLaren plans to develop a total of 500 units.

From the looks of it, this closing of the books is just for the initial stage of ordering, but we can’t stop thinking that McLaren may have chosen to reduce the number of P1s it will manufacture. We also have to take into account that the buyer who passed on this information may be full of hooey. We’ll see…

Video: GRID 2 Teaser Features Chris Harris in a McLaren MP4-12C

Noted auto journalist Chris Harris recently got an invitation from Codemasters — the fine folks behind the racing game series, GRID — to give the game a virtual test. This isn’t any old test either, as it pits Harris against McLaren test driver Mat Jackson in a race at Brands Hatch in the virtual UK.

In the virtual race, Harris struggles to keep up with the more experienced Jackson and voices his displeasure to one of the game’s developers. After a few tips and pointers on how to get more out of his MP4-12C, Harris proceeds to catch up to Jackson, overtake him and then beat him to the checkered flag by the slimmest of margins.

Apparently, the whole point of the series of teasers is for Codemasters to display the kind of real-life instructions you can put to use in the virtual racing game. Quite frankly, we don’t get the idea of the whole thing, given the fact that the GRID series has always been a game that put hardcore racing as its main selling point. In any case, the video’s pretty interesting if you’re a fan of the GRID franchise.

Harris’ involvement in these teasers also appear to be of the multi-part variety, which means that we can expect to see more of these teasers in the coming weeks as Codemasters prepares for the release of “GRID 2 Effect” this summer.

2013 McLaren MP4-12C Spyder "Terso" Japan Limited Edition by FAB Design

Do you remember the McLaren MP4-12C Terso tuning package Fab Design announced last year? The same treatment has also been applied to the Spyder version and the result is equally impressive. The model, which is officially called the Terso Japan Limited Edition, was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon and will be limited to only 10 units.

Just like with the Terso Coupe, the new Spyder version receives a pretty impressive aerodynamic kit and some amazing updates under the hood. For the exterior, the tuner adds a new front skirt with larger air intakes, new side skirts, redesigned side air intakes, a new rear bumper, a new diffuser and a rear spoiler.

The car sits on a set of 20-inch, three-part forged wheels wrapped in Dunlop SP SportMaxx tires. For the interior, Fab offers their customers the possibility to choose between a wide range of leather, Alcantara, carbon fiber and aluminum.

Under the hood, Fab applied the same treatment as they did in the coupe, as they have installed a new in-house stainless-steel sports exhaust and a three-chamber carbon tailpipe. The end result is a total of 680 horsepower and a peak torque of 527 pound-feet. The 0-to-60 mph sprint now takes just 3 seconds and the top speed goes up to an impressive 213 mph.

2013 McLaren MP4-28

Just last week, Ferrari unveiled the first teaser for their upcoming 2013 Formula One Race Car and now it’s time for McLaren to do the same.

Instead of an image, McLaren has unveiled a teaser video of their Formula 1 racecar set to be unveiled on January 31st. The car will be named McLaren Mercedes MP4-28 and it will be driven by Jensen Button and new driver, Sergio Perez.

What we do know about the car is that it will keep the same 2.4-liter V-8 engine as previous version. In fact, 2013 will be the last year that this type of engine will be used, as starting in the 2014 racing season, it will be replaced by a 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 engine.

The 2013 racing season will be a pretty interesting one for McLaren. First they will celebrate their 50th anniversary. And second, this is the first year that Lewis Hamilton will not be joining their team, as he has moved onto Mercedes.

We’ll update you with all of the official details on the McLaren MP4-28 F1 car once all of the details are released.

Video: McLaren P1 Caught Flying Around

A very lucky guy managed to catch a McLaren P1 supercar while it was craned into SLS hotel for a private viewing in Beverly Hills. As a reminder, the P1 was previously unveiled in at a private event in New York City and is not due to hit showrooms for up to 12 months.

The P1 is powered by a 5.0-liter V-8 engine that produces about 800 horsepower and will be mated to a Graziano seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The model will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, from 0 to 100 mph in 5.5 seconds, and 0 to 200 mph in just 20 seconds. Top speed is rumored to go up to an impressive 240 mph. Of course, such impressive performance numbers come with a huge price — around $1 million according to the first details.

So, this is your chance to see the P1 supercar flying! Of course, it’s not as dramatic of a flight as the Aston Martin Vanquish Centenary Edition made, but still cool nonetheless.