16 April 2009 - 12:00
McLaren F1 is back
Ron Dennis today announced that McLaren will launch its P11 supercar, the successor to the awesome F1 (pictured), in 2011.
Speaking at the team’s Woking HQ, Dennis confirmed that he is to end all involvement with McLaren’s F1 squad in order to concentrate on its new sports car business, McLaren Automotive.
The P11 – a mid-engined rival for the Ferrari F430 – will be the first product of McLaren Automotive, and indeed the first all-McLaren car since 1992, as the British firm is cutting ties with Mercedes.
Dennis said that the McLaren range of ‘super sports cars’ will start at around £100,000 – though the P11 is expected to cost nearer £130,000 – and will include a 2+2 seater as well as the two-seater P11.
He has lofty ambitions for his fledgling company: McLaren Automotive expects to build 1000 cars in its first full year of production from a new UK-based factory, rising to 4000 cars by 2014 – rather more than the mere 106 F1s. Dennis said this would provide ‘the potential for up to 800 skilled jobs’.
At the moment, details of the P11 remain sketchy, but Top Gear was able to glean that the supercar will feature a cab-forward stance, retractable rear spoiler and a flat underbody. McLaren has built 36 prototypes so far.
However, we don’t know what it’ll be called: Dennis confirmed that P11 was merely a codename for the project. So, over to you: what should the new McLaren supercar be called?
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Woo, the F1 was ace, can they top it? Probably not, lets see
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I think it will be amazing hopefully there will be a convertible option aswell. Thats saying I would rather have the hard top version especially with the british weather lol What about the name Mclaren Bruce (after the guy who the racing team was named after) thats saying probably would be too similar to what ferrari did with the Ferrari Enzo
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It so disappointing and frustrating that it's gonna be a F430 rival. A McLaren should be an out of the world beast that set world records for the next decade or so, a car without any rival, not just another mundane 100K supercar you can find in your local Tesco lot.
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I agree with ian, if you only make a new type of car ever 3 years or so, and all of them are mentally fast, why make one a rival for a 430? You have to aim higher because normal people would just then buy the 430, mainly, because it's a ferrari! McLaren should just jo mental as they always do and build a Ron Dennis Type R!
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The successor to the F1 should surely be called the F2.
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Why would McLaren do this? So they can make money! Notice the production goal of thousands of cars. It's a business move, rather than a car purist one. Sure, it's different from what they've done in the past, but it's smart to be gearing up to sell some sweet, attainable supercars just as the global economy starts picking up. Right now they can hire smart, talented people on the cheap, and by the time these are ready to roll out, people will be able to afford them again. Besides, there are plenty of companies doing "mental" right now. Koenigseggggg comes to mind. Or any of the myriad Viper tuners out there.
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McLaren Mk2. It just works.
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I bet it's an F430 rival because McLaren know that when they build a powerful mid-V8 car, it beats Ferraris! Trying to repeat Formula 1 success on the road; they should call it the McLaren MP4/Street (like MP4/23, geddit?). That or Macca are going to war with Merc's SLS like I thought.
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it should be called the McLaren Jolly Rodger. that's got a nice ring to it
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I think it should be called the 'McLaren Honesty" assuming that, like the McLaren F1, it will be a rare item.
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call it McP11 hehehehehehe
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McTG 3000 Do I win any awards for that?
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Does anyone think there could be some bad Merc and Mc blood and maybe this is more of a Merc SLS thrasher than a 430 competitor? After all it is the Mercedes SLS now, not the McLaren SLR, anymore.
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I think they should give me a Job, and ill name it after me!
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The thing is, with all their development & understanding of performance from their F1 development, they could easily manufacture an outstanding car within the £130,000 price range that could potentially destroy everything within that class & it will probably deal a few blows outsight of its weight class ! the F1 was made in 1992, it's a car with a superd drag coefficient a superb engine (normally aspirated capable of pushing the car to a top speed of 243 mph) If their talking about "mass" production compared to the F1 volumes then the cost will obviously be less, computer models have taken away from expensive development costs and with a further 17 years of knowledge behind them this is one car I can't wait to see
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This news makes me happy. The fact that at £130,000 I'll never be able to afford one really doesn't. Jim am sadness :(
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I think it should be called the McLaren F-Yeah =) or the McLaren F-Yaw cause I'm a big fan of McLaren and anyone or anything comes second to these guys....
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Make sure it has a market in the U.S... Call it The Big Mc
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NO ambition James C, no wonder the country is in such a mess!
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What's the odds they call it the McLaren Hamilton, or McLaren Lewis, or even the McLaren Lewis Hamilton. Maybe the McLaren Senna would be a good name.
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Thank god! Now England will be the pinnacle of supercars hopefully. And those new jobs sound good, especially in 5 years after my degree =D
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There's only one potential name for the successor to the FI, and that's FIA.... or maybe the FI Max.... Ron'll love those!
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I think it's fantastic seeing McLaren making road cars, but it's going to be hard to live up to the legend of the McLaren F1. I think if their aim is to compete with the F430 they might be forgetting a more local rival as the new Lotus Esprit will be out by then. Not to mention the quantities they're talking about aren't really sustainable for a car in that price range. They should be able to look at Ferrari or Lamborghini numbers for comparison.
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McLaren F2.
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Open Car Bar
A4R0N-24 commented on this article
16 April 2009
BRILLIANT, can't wai
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