McLaren revealed the Senna hypercar last month to generally mixed reviews. Nobody was complaining about its power and performance capabilities because 789 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque usually come with “oohs” and “ahhs” along the way. What got people talking about the Senna in less-glorious terms was the car’s design. Some people loved it while others hated it. Well, if it helps, new photos of a black McLaren Senna has found its way into the Interwebs, and those concerns about McLaren being too cute with the Senna’s design can now be put to bed.

It’s true that a car’s color can mask certain design elements that would otherwise pop when combined with a flashy shade. That appears to be the case with the Senna. When it debuted in December, McLaren decided to use a red-orange paint scheme on the Senna. It’s not uncommon for McLaren to use this color — it’s done so to great success in the past — but using it did make the black elements on the body pop up, including the split hood that divides the two cooling vents. Some people thought it was an awkward look to a car that’s supposed to be all about radical aggressiveness.

The narrative changes dramatically when the Senna is dressed up in black, just like the first-production model that was recently spotted in the wild, and talked about by car personality Shmee in his YouTube channel. The all-black treatment blends everything together. Instead of seeing the Senna as a car with multiple panels and aerodynamic components, the whole body is streamlined in one color, making it look meaner, sexier, and far more aggressive than the red-orange unit that was used in the model’s debut.

I will admit that I’m still on the fence about the massive rear wing. I get the fact that its size is largely due to McLaren’s goal of making it aerodynamically quick as possible, but does it really have to sit that far out of the rear? I know McLaren did that to clear room for the Senna’s funky exhaust configuration. While I’m at it, McLaren didn’t need too cute with that design either.

In any case, the black McLaren Senna looks far better than the red-orange version. That much, I think, we can all agree on.

References

McLaren Senna

Read our full review on the 2019 McLaren Senna.

Read more McLaren news.