With rumors circulating about a successor to the McLaren F1, we bring you a new artist's rendition of a new mid-engine McLaren. The word on the street is that McLaren is building a new, two-seater workhorse with a V8 engine, scheduled for 2010 production. The original McLaren F1 supercar took to the streets back in 1993, to forever be drooled over by legions of car fans everywhere. Their new car, which may have spawned from prior development work from their now defunct partnership with Mercedes-Benz, is supposed to be of a smaller and more lightweight construction. Memories of the McLaren F1 V12 abound: it went 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, topped out around 386 km/h (240 mph), and reighned supreme above all supercars for over a decade. It seems McLaren would need some sort of miracle, or divine inspiration, to build such a legend a second time around. Any new McLaren would be in competition with the Bugatti Veyron, and potential Ferrari Enzo and Lamborghini Murcielago replacements. Hopefully, this new McLaren will have the driver-in-the-middle three-seat design the F1 is known for. WCF will of course keep watch over this story, and bring you any news on the new McLaren as it arises. Source WCF: Latest Rendition of Future McLaren Supercar :t-cheers:
New McLaren due in 2010 The countdown to the launch of McLaren’s long-awaited second supercar has begun. Early prototypes of the final design began shakedown tests in mid-April. Codenamed P11, the first of a number of versions of the new McLaren is expected to roll into showrooms in March 2010, although it’s expected to be unveiled in autumn 2009. The P11 will be followed by both open-top and hardcore versions of the base model. Insiders say the mid-engined car will be pitched as a rival for the £130k Ferrari F430. The P11 is also said to be noticeably lighter and more compact than the competition. It will be powered by a 550bhp V8 engine which some sources say will be built by Mahle (which bought out the old Cosworth business) in Northamptonshire. It’s thought that the McLaren engine will be based on an existing Mercedes unit. Insiders in Germany say that production of the Mercedes McLaren SLR will be closed down by the middle of next year. This will clear the way for the P11 production system to be installed at McLaren’s Woking facility. The Spider version of the P11 is expected to appear in March 2011. There’s scant information on this model, which is still in the development phase, but it is expected to have a proper folding fabric roof. The summer of 2011 should see the ultimate expression of the new McLaren supercar going on sale. Project P12, which should cost around £250,000 in today’s money, is said to be a much more hardcore, driver-focused interpretation of the P11. It’s also likely to be the version closest to the spirit of the iconic McLaren F1. According to internal McLaren documents finalised last year, a V10 engine delivering over 600bhp will power the P12. The rest of the car will be stripped down and re-engineered for ultimate weight saving. Source: Autocar - New McLaren due in 2010 :t-cheers:
The F1 was a masterpiece of industrial design. There was nothing superfluous about it: nothing was there just for decorative reasons. It was pure and utterly purposeful. These renderings are very disappointing. They are boring and uninspiring.
