And because of their efforts to expand their offerings have increased, rumor has it that the brand was considering a successor to the infamous F1. And apparently, the planned F1 hypercar will receive a follow-up in 2012, more than two years earlier than planned. Could McLaren be attempting to regain the title as producing the world’s fastest production car once again?

McLaren has been focusing most of their efforts on expanding the company itself and introducing their first ever dealer network. Along with these plans though is the new F1 and some McLaren insiders were able to provide some minute details.

Apparently, this new F1 will feature a unibody made completely of carbon fiber, which is similar to that of the MP4-12C. And just like the original F1, there is said to be a significant focus on saving weight, which means the F1 has the potential to pioneer a variety of new solutions for others to follow.

No other specifics have been released such as powertrain and other equipment as the car is still deep in the R&D phase. Either way, the new McLaren F1 will certainly be an interesting project to follow.

- By: Chris Chin

Source: AutoCar

Famous television and movie star Rowan Atkinson is recovering in the hospital after an accident with his McLaren F1 supercar occurred earlier this week. The 56-year-old actor walked away from the ditched F1 while a passing motorist looked after him after crash.

Atkinson was then taken to Peterborough District Hospital in Cambridgeshire where was treated for a minor shoulder injury. This event comes off as a little ironic since the actor just appeared on an episode of the most recent season of Top Gear UK for the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment.

“People would assume that in the reasonably priced car I will be very good when there’s absolutely no guarantee of that whatsoever,” said Atkinson during his segment after completing the challenge and being the fastest actor around the Top Gear track.

Mr. Atkinson is expected to be released from the hospital some time today as we speak.

- By: Chris Chin

Source: Telegraph

Rivian Automotive, a small company established in Florida, just got a huge break. The designer of the McLaren F1, Peter Stevens, has just taken a new spot as Rivian’s director of design.

The small automotive company has big ambition, with a goal of producing environmentally friendly performance cars and is currently working on developing a highly flexible vehicle platform for a range of efficient, fun-to-drive, affordably-priced, vehicles.

“It is very seldom that a designer gets an opportunity to be involved from the earliest stages in a truly creative project,” says Stevens. “Our design philosophy is to confirm to the purchaser that this is a company that knows its customers to be enlightened people who share the same ideals as Rivian. Those customers, like the team at Rivian, want their driving experiences to be entertaining, and their purchase to be visually appealing.”

Originally Avera Motors, Rivian landed on its current name due to a lawsuit from Hyundai over its Azera four-door. The company has been established since 2009, and started out as an energy and thermal control company.

As the latest staff addition, Stephens comes with quite a resume. He crafted the aerodynamics, body and interior for the McLaren, on top of work with BMW, Jaguar, GM, and MG Rover.

This should make quite a team. I’m dying for an eco-friendly concept that doesn’t disappoint. Perhaps this will be the team to deliver.

- By: Alexandra Koken

Let’s face it. As time and technology advance, the Bugatti Veryon’s attribution for being the world’s fastest production car wasn’t going to go on for much longer. To further prove this, McLaren announced that they are hard at work with a new flagship model that is “intended to eclipse every supercar to date, combining blistering performance with ultimate agility and everyday usability.”

Said to be “bigger, angrier, and more functional looking” than a McLaren MP4-12C while resembling both the latter and the original F1, the internally dubbed “Mega Mac” receives an active aerodynamic systems that can adjust the front and rear spoilers.

The inside is said to be decked out with on-board data logging and a video camera that will keep track junkies busy so they could compare data with the latest and greatest efforts from their friends.

Mechanically, McLaren said that the new Mega Mac will have a 5.0L V8 engine good for 799-hp and 590 lb-ft of torques for a grand figure of 160-hp per liter. The engine will be mated to a Graziano seven-speed dual clutch gearbox.

McLaren estimates that the Mega Mac should pass 60 in just 2.8 seconds with 100 mph coming in at 5.5 seconds, and 200 in just 20! Although 0-60 is slower than the current Veyron Super Sport, the 0-200 time should pass the Veyron’s 22 seconds.

The MegaMac will be loosely based on the current MP4-12C’s carbon fiber Monocell, retuned with aluminum pushrod suspension, hydraulic anti-roll control, adaptive dampers, and a five-stage traction control system.

Brembo carbon-ceramics are expected to be standard with Brake Steer and electronic brake force distribution. ABS will have the option to be defeated for race circuits based on the sat-nav’s location, similar to workings of the stability control system on the Nissan GTR.

Scheduled for a 2014 launch and only 500 units, the “Mega Mac” is expected to sell around £350,000 and £400,000.

- By: Chris Chin

Source: AutoCar

2012 McLaren MP4-12C vs McLaren F1

We’ve always wondered how the new McLaren MP4-12C would look like if it went face-to-face with the McLaren F1 – well, the folks at AutoCar are here to help us figure that out.

Check out their video after the jump.

Click here for more news on the McLaren MP4-12C.

Hit the jump for the video.

Refresher: The 2012 McLaren Mp4-12C is powered by a 3.8L twin-turbo V8 making 592-hp at 7,000 rpm with a maximum torque of 443 lb-ft between 3,000 rpm to 7,000 rpm. That allows the McLaren MP4-12C to run from 0-62 mph in 3.3 seconds with a top speed clocked in at 205 mph. The Corsa tire option shaves 0.2 seconds off the 0-62 mph time. 0 to 124 mph takes 9.1 seconds and with the Corsa tire option that goes down by 0.2 seconds. The quarter mile run takes the McLaren MP4-12C  10.9 seconds at 134 mph. Stopping from 62 mph can happen in 100 feet. Price start at $231,400.

2012 McLaren MP4-12C:

2012 McLaren MP4-12C:

- By: Omar Rana

McLaren F1 20th Anniversary Celebration

McLaren Automotive has plans to launch a successor to the F1 supercar in 2012, according to a report by AutoCar. That means the F1 is now expected to arrive two years ahead than originally planned – which was later this decade.

Insiders say that the company is working on a new F1 and say that the car will be a “revolutionary” supercar and will be more aggressive looking than the company’s MP4-12C.

The new McLaren F1 development program is said to be moving faster than the industry has ever seen. The next-generation model will be a mid-engined supercar and will features a carbon fiber monocoque like the MP4-12C. The new version will still features some similarities to the original F1 including the central driving seat.

We’re looking forward to it.

McLaren F1 20th Anniversary Celebration:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoCar

McLaren F1 20th Anniversary Celebration

Yes, it’s been 20 years since McLaren unleashed its F1, the fastest normally aspirated production car in the world (still holds the title today).

Exactly a month ago, McLaren Automotive celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the start of the F1 program by inviting a bunch of F1 owners to come down hang out and dine at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking, England. McLaren then put together a display of  21 McLaren F1 road and race cars, the largest number of F1 cars ever assembled in one place.

“The F1 is a technological tour-de-force and a real triumph in terms of packaging and design,” said Ron Dennis, McLaren Automotive Executive Chairman. “Whether endurance racing or on road, it is supremely fast, agile and yet comfortable. Its styling is enduring and will never fade. I enjoy driving mine more today than ever before because I find its technical purity highly satisfying; the F1 remains one of McLaren’s proudest achievements.”

Check out the history of the McLaren F1 in the press release after the jump along with photos from the celebration.

McLaren F1 20th Anniversary Celebration:

Press Release:

McLAREN AUTOMOTIVE CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEGENDARY McLAREN F1

* McLaren F1 is still the fastest normally aspirated production road car in the world.
* McLaren F1 GTR secured McLaren’s position as the only car manufacturer to win the Formula 1 World Championship, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours
* McLaren F1 was first production road car to use a full carbon fibre monocoque
* 20 years of carbon pioneering behind McLaren’s launch of the new MP4-12C in 2011

In 1988, McLaren took the decision to expand from Formula One and design and build “the finest sports car the world had ever seen”. In March 1990 the team that was to create the F1 came together for the first time. In its 20th anniversary year, the McLaren F1 is considered by most people to be one of the greatest cars of all time. Its exclusivity, technical innovation, racing provenance, revolutionary packaging and extraordinary driving experience have made it an icon.

Just two years later, the McLaren F1 road car was launched to the world on 28th May 1992 in Monaco, with the first production car delivered to its proud owner in December 1993.

The F1 defines the McLaren road car DNA

McLaren is a carbon pioneer. The McLaren Formula 1 team was the first team in Formula 1 to use a carbon fibre chassis in 1981. Nine years on, these Formula 1 techniques were developed to create the carbon monocoque for the McLaren F1: the resulting structure weighed just 100kg whilst offering the highest levels of strength and safety. The bare carbon fibre passenger doors weighed just 7 kg each (which included the weight of the side intrusion beam).

The F1 defined the McLaren road car DNA: low weight, low polar moment of inertia, clever packaging, superb quality and innovative design, resulting in an outstanding driving experience.

The F1 bristles with innovative design. The central driving position, which ensures superb visibility and no compromise on control positions for the driver; the pannier side lockers providing unprecedented levels of luggage capacity in a car of this type; the patented suspension system to provide both control and ride quality.

The F1 was launched at a price of £540,000 in 1994, and over the course of the next four years 64 F1, 5 F1 LM and 3 F1 GT road cars were produced, together with 28 F1 GTR race cars. An additional six prototypes were produced.

In October 2008, a delivery mileage F1 was sold at auction for £2.53 million, underlining the F1′s status as one of the great motoring icons.

Taking a road car to the track

In 1994, after pressure from owners, McLaren developed a racing version of the F1 road car to run in the FIA GT1 category in the 1995 season. Despite a design and development period of just 3 months, the F1 GTR swept all before it, winning not only the 1995 GT1 Championship, but also the 24 Heures du Mans on its debut. McLaren not only won, but dominated the rain-soaked endurance race, finishing in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th places.

The Le Mans winning F1 GTR was piloted by J.J. Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya. Lehto’s performance through the night on a treacherous circuit has been hailed as one of the great racing performances of all time, taking up to 10 seconds a lap off the cars in front of him. The winning car is proudly displayed at the McLaren Technology Centre in exactly the condition that it finished Le Mans in 1995.

Thus the F1 GTR secured for McLaren a unique position in motor racing history, as the only manufacturer to win the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

McLaren decided to celebrate the extraordinary result at Le Mans by creating 5 F1 LM road cars, one for each F1 that finished this most grueling of races. Launched in McLaren Orange, as used on Bruce McLaren’s race cars the 1960s and 70s, and with a derestricted race engine, the LM is not only the most powerful of all F1 variants, but also the most valuable. Formula 1 fans will recognize this as the car which Lewis Hamilton has set his heart on owning.

In 1997, the final iteration of the F1 road car project was built. The F1 GT was built solely to fulfil the new homologation rules for the 1997 GTR race car, of which 10 examples were produced in the same year. Both the GT road car and the 1997 GTR race cars became known as the ‘Longtail’, because of the longer front and rear overhangs for improved downforce when racing. Although McLaren only had to build one car for homologation purposes, two more were built following requests from existing F1 owners.

In 1998, with a total of 106 of all variants built and its production run complete, the McLaren F1 went on to achieve its greatest feat outside competitive motorsport. McLaren development and race driver Andy Wallace took XP5, the fifth and final prototype F1 with some 45,000 hard test miles on the clock, to the Ehra-Lessien proving ground in Germany. It was here on 31st March 1998 that the howling V12 propelled him to an amazing 240.1mph. Over 12 years later, this remains a world record for a naturally aspirated production car.

Back to the F1 future

On 27th April 2010, McLaren Automotive celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the start of the F1 programme by inviting F1 owners past and present to a celebration dinner at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The following day, after an insight into McLaren Automotive’s exciting plans for a future range of high performance sports cars, the owners were treated to a display of 21 McLaren F1 road and race cars, the largest number of F1 cars ever assembled in one place.

With the launch of McLaren Automotive as a new car company announced in March 2010, the company begins production planning for an entire range of high performance sports, designed and built in-house by McLaren. The first in this range will be the MP4-12C.

The 12C shares much of the design philosophy that was applied to the McLaren F1. Starting with the new car’s MonoCell, a one-piece carbon fibre chassis that is stiff, light and ensures occupant safety, every component has been designed to ensure the car is lightweight, nimble and able to deliver ultimate performance. When the 12C launches in 2011, it will be the first in the ‘core’ sports car sector to offer a carbon chassis, and the first road car ever with a one-piece, moulded carbon chassis.

From the outset, the 12C has been ‘designed around the driver’. Outstanding aerodynamic efficiency and bespoke technologies including Proactive Chassis Control, Seamless Shift dual-clutch Gearbox (SSG), Brake Steer and the 12C’s unique Airbrake feature in a car which has been developed using Formula 1 simulator technology. The new high performance sports car from McLaren will be sold initially through 35 retailers in 19 different countries around the world from Spring 2011.

McLaren’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the F1 will continue throughout the year.

McLaren enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see both the F1 and 12C together at this summer’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which takes place at the famous English motorsport venue from 2-4 July 2010.

Technical specifications of each McLaren F1 derivative are detailed below.

- By: Omar Rana

To celebrate the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C, McLaren Automotive asked F1 owners to come down to the company’s headquarters to create a photo-op for the supercar manufacturer. A total of 21 McLaren F1 owners showed up with their rides to the company’s headquarters in Woking, U.K.

The McLaren F1 was introduced in 1994 and only 64 units were made for the streets. A total of 106 units were produced with 5 for LeMans, 3 were longtail roadcars (GT), 5 prototypes, 28 racecars (GTR), and 1 LM prototype.

The folks at CarsUK pointed out that Rowan Atkinson, otherwise known as Mr. Bean, is one of the few F1 owners who drives his around regularly instead of keeping it locked up.

Click here to read more news on the McLaren MP4-12C.

Refresher: Power for the 2011 McLaren MP4-12C comes from a 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine producing around 600-hp mated to a 7-speed Seamless Shift dual-clutch gearbox (SSG). 0 to 60 mph is expected to come in the low 3 second range with a top speed of more than 200 mph. Sales begin in early 2011.

2011 McLaren MP4-12C:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: CarsUK (via WCF)

When McLaren Automotive revealed its MP4-12C last month, it said that it is already working on a second and third car for the brand. The MP4-12C would sit between the second and third model, leaving space below and above for McLaren Automotive engineers to explore.

While we have to wait to hear or see anything official from McLaren, Matt Williams, a Conventry University graduate, is already hard at work coming up with a design study on how a successor to the McLaren F1 could look – and honestly, we like it.

Williams said that under the hood of William’s McLaren is something that rekindles the BMW/McLaren relationship with a V10 from the BMW M5/M6. Output has been upgraded through 700-hp with some modifications. While that’s not a bad choice, whatever McLaren Automotive makes will be produced in-house – including the powerplant.

Click here for more news on the McLaren MP4-12C.

Click through for more pictures.

McLaren LM5 Rendering by Matt Williams:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: diseno-art.com (via WCF)

Gordon Murray may be busy working on his T25 family city-car, but the creator of the McLaren F1 has not abandoned plans to work on a successor to the landmark supercar.

“It will be the world’s next F1,”Murray told CAR Magazine. “However, it will be a dramatic step backward in power and top speed.”

Murray said that the successor to the McLaren F1 will “offer the ultimate in driver appeal and engineering exquisiteness, and still be highly expensive and exclusive.” He said that it will be so exclusive that “it’ll be a new breed.”

“The way supercars are done right now, they’ve got no future at all,” he said. While Murray still has yet to sit down and come up with official weight, power and other performance targets, he promises that the car will be much lighter and smaller than the current F1.

As for the up coming P1 from McLaren, Murray says “it”s bound to disappoint” – and that means a lot coming from the creator of one of the best supercars to ever ride on Earth.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: CAR

Ahmed Almuhairi of United Arab Emirates manage to capture the Top Gear crew, including The Stig, on location with four high-performance supercars.

While Almuhairi said that police created a 1.86 mile blockade, he managed to capture a 38 second video in which you will see a Bugatti Veyron, Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR 722, Lamborghini SV LP670-4 and the old McLaren F1.

Of course, this means a very exciting episode in the works which we’re anxiously looking forward to.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: YouTube (via WCF)

Under the guidance of CEO Ron Dennis, McLaren is planning to climb back to the top of the supercar ranks with a line of new high-performance models including a successor to the F1. According to AutoCar, McLaren is looking to take on high-end performance models such as those produced by Bugatti and Koenigsegg.

Sources say that McLaren will use the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and the Gallardo LP560-4 as the benchmark for a line of new supercars that will be designed and engineered in the UK.

According to recent interview with CEO Dennis, McLaren has earmarked £250 million ($331 million USD) for its supercar program. Also, unlike its predecessor, the next McLaren F1 will see a larger production run.

Sources say that McLaren has been talking to its Formula One partner Mercedes-Benz to re-engineer its engines or its upcoming models. While nothing is official yet, AutoCar says that McLaren is looking at Mercedes-Benz’s 6.2L V8 AMG for its supercar lineup.

- By: The Daily Auto Editor

Source: AutoCar

After six months of painstaking work and $233,172, London’s Madame Tussauds unveiled a lifelike wax statue of Formula One Champion – Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton underwent 300 measurements for the statue which shows him holding his helmet and gloves dressed in his McLaren race gear.

Hamilton’s wax statue joins Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher in the interactive Sports Zone of Madame Tussads.

Lewis Hamilton Wax Statue at Madame Tussauds:

- By: Kap Shah

Source: WCF

A 1997 McLaren F1 was auction off for £2.5 million ($4.1 million USD) last night at RM Auction”s in Battersea, London. The McLaren F1 was a showroom car that had just 270 miles on it and sold for £1.1 million ($1.8 million USD) more than the estimated value.

However, the highlight of show was a Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that sold for £3 million ($4.9 million). The car was driven by Cameron Diaz in Charlie’s Angels.

Overall, 30 percent of the 129 cars at the auction went unsold. It was reported that some of the auctioneers had previously contacted vendors to lower their starting price.

Source: AutoCar