The McLaren Super Series: in pics

You’re looking at Job #1: the very first production McLaren 720S, finished here in Glacier White and ready to begin its life as one of the world's great toys.

It is the second-generation of McLaren’s ‘Super Series’ range, and therefore traces its heritage back to the car that pretty much kickstarted this modern age of McLaren. Which is the car on the left - the very first 12C.

Though the company’s supercar story has a narrative that Quentin Tarantino himself would be proud of - starting off in the middle with the first-gen Super Series range – codenamed ‘P11’ - then through the range-topping P1 and entry-level 540C. The first of the Supers came in 2011: McLaren's MP4-12C [insert your own fax machine joke here], a competitor for the Ferrari 458 Italia.

McLaren then embarked on a period of OPTIMISATION of said MP4-12C through a number of versions, before venturing into the other aforementioned spectrums of the supercar market. The P1 was the madcap, bite-your-fingers-off hypercar, and formed part of the ‘Ultimate Series’. The 540C and 570S were the bambinos, and made up the ‘Sports Series’.

So this new 720S officially ends production of the P11 Super Series, and kick starts the new ‘P14’ era. And it promises to be quite an era. The 720S packs a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 with 720bhp, and is capable of maxing out at 212mph. Also, it looks quite fantastic.

To mark the passing of the baton then, we’ve corralled together A Brief History Of McLaren’s Super Series Range; essentially, a set of lovely pics of some lovely McLaren supercars.

You’re welcome.

The car that started it all. Unveiled first in 2009, it saw the production light of day in 2011 as the MP4-12C Coupe. These early cars featured McLaren’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 producing 592bhp. The very next year, McLaren renamed it to ‘12C’ and launched the Spider version too. Power was also increased to 616bhp – enough to take it from 0-60mph in just 3.1s, and a top speed of 207mph.

Over 3,400 12Cs were built up until 2014, 60 per cent of those sold as Coupes.

How to buy a McLaren 12C: Top Gear’s guide to ‘bargain’ heroes

Originally pitched as a sister to the 12C, it was supposed to be the faster, more dramatic and more focused supercar. It eventually ended up being the 12C’s replacement, and as such, featured a modified version of that 3.8-litre V8, which produced 641bhp and a whopping 500lb ft of torque.

Better still, the steering and chassis were huge improvements over the previous car, with McLaren’s unnatural ability to balance responsiveness and feel with a pleasant ride.

Speed? 0-62mph was claimed as 3.0s flat, while it would top out at 207mph.

“It’s brilliant, that’s what,” we said upon first encounter. Because it uses the same carbon tub, and said carbon tub was so strong, it didn’t need any additional strengthening, and had a weight gain of just 40kg over the Coupe.

Which also meant it drove pretty much exactly like the Coupe. 0-62mph was the same, though it topped out at 3mph less (a paltry 204mph).

McLaren’s answer to the 458 Speciale was, um, a pretty special bit of kit. It was a harder, faster, lighter and more intense reworking of the 650S (itself a harder, faster iteration of the 12C), and was, to be blunt, quite amazing.

0-62mph took just 2.9s and it would top out at 205mph, but it had an insane power-to-weight ratio (542bhp-per-tonne), borrowed the P1 hypercar’s suspension, and featured an even faster steering rack.

So special, just 500 were built. They sold out in weeks.

Is the 675LT McLaren's best road car since the F1? Find out here

The last of the first-gen Super Series cars was possibly the finest of the first-gen Super Series cars. The Spider had all the same underpinnings, but because of the convertible-ness of the Spider, this 675LT was “always the right kind of noisy”. And noisy is good.

Not just that, it’s sharp, but not spiky to drive.

The bright orange thing on the right. Need we say any more about it? Oh, alright then. Click here. Before you do, it is now customary for you to oblige us with your absolute pick of the Super Series range. Which car gets your vote?