With the announcement of its MP4-12C supercar that will make its debut in 2011, McLaren Automotive is firing off a warning shot aimed squarely at Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and any other boutique supercar builders out there that the ultra-high-performance landscape in the automotive world is about to change. While Ferrari et al chase customers in emerging markets and slowly but surely lose some of their exclusivity, watch McLaren emerge as the ultimate hand-built sports cars to posses and lust after.
if only the styling were something to lust after. it's like Cayman meets S7 meets Mitsu Eclipse. Bleh.
It looks a heck of a lot better than the Veyron or the Gallardo or the Zonda or the.....well you get my drift. I like it.........
It's too familiar....recycled styling cues. Love them or hate them, the ones you mention are unique and won't be confused with a $20k Japanese car.
The trouble with a lot of supercars is the design elements that make them look unique don't make them look pretty. Unique is easy, just do something no one else has done. One problem with that idea.....lots of unique designs have already been drawn but didn't make it to the street because they were tossed in the trash.....and they're not worthy of recycling. Like the guys on Top Gear say, supercars usually look like they were designed by a kid with crayons. I guess it isn't easy to design something that looks outlandish and amazing yet doesn't look like a clown car. I shouldn't complain, I couldn't do it. Unfortunately I do see the stretched/Cayman-ized Eclipse similarity now you've mentioned it.....damn it PGT! That pic is my least favorite; like this one better. It's a bit tame looking given the crowd they want it to run with but I like some of the details and I bet it looks great in person.
Yeah, thanks PGT, ruined the car for me. Eclipsed.......... The angle Steve shows is a lot more promising. Let's see what happens when Stig rips it up sometime in 2011 Side note-Cant' stand the once good looking car 'updated' and turned ugly ala the Eclipse or current WRX.
The McLaren is designed by Frank Stephenson, the same designer responsible for our MINI's and the new Fiat 500.
I really like the look of this car. I would hope that they put performance in it that rivals the F1. Anything less and the car would be a waste in my opinion.
Behind the scenes video [ame="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb4mrr_behind-the-scenes-testing-and-devel_auto"]Dailymotion - Behind the scenes testing and development at McLaren - a Auto-Moto video@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xb4mrr@@AMEPARAM@@xb4mrr[/ame]
It is a beautiful car and I would love to drive one. The people who say they don't like it and compare is to an eclipse make me chuckle, as if they would not drive it if they could afford it. Please:arf:
McLaren Unveils MP4-12C Production Model March 18, 2010 click the headline for the full article but here's most of it...new video below [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqAxN_xq80Y]YouTube - The Jenson and Lewis Test[/ame]
It gets harder and harder to squeeze originality out of the supercar genre. Whether power, performance, look, price, exclusivity: it's all been done. When I was a kid there were about three cars-on-posters that I would stroke my hoagie to. Now there are perhaps 20 cars vying for the supercar dollar. I love Mclaren, but what's new here? Show me a car with this performance and ultra low emissions. Or no emissions. That's new. Here's a start:
For the money, I'd get that driving simulator that race teams use to practice on tracks around the world. Virtual driving would be more fun than actually driving a supercar on the street or seeing it sitting in a garage.
That simulator program is rFactor for the majority of teams and drivers. I have been part of an online league that uses rFactor and it is a blast....!