The Lowdown on McLaren’s New Entry

The Frankfurt Auto Show is one of the world’s largest, equaled in Europe only by the earlier Geneva expo.  The coming event was expected to draw a number of debuts, but the week has produced a flood of exciting premieres even before the show has officially opened.  No category has been more blessedly affected than that of the exotic car.

The floodgates were opened yesterday on the McLaren MP4-12C’s reveal, with hi-res images and video clips springing about on every automotive news site.  The MP4-12C, P12 in factory terminology, is the British company’s second dedicated street car.  The MP4-12C carries a heavy burden on its beautifully sculpted shoulders, of course: the car wears the name of the late (great) Bruce McLaren, and rolls in the tire tracks of the F1.

The F1 itself was a revolutionary supercar in the 1990s.  Public sight was first laid upon it in Monaco in May of 1992.  The car bore both a beautiful shape and incredible engineering.  The structure was made largely of carbon fiber, a strong and lightweight composite quite foreign to road cars at the time.  The cabin was appointed with custom-trim Connolly leather and an extension of the composite design theme.  The driver was mounted in the exact center of the car, with two rear passenger seats placed behind.  Doors were of the scissor variety for easy and flashy access.

But the F1′s place above all other automobiles was set in stone with the German power of its naturally aspirated BMW 6.1 L V-12.  With this, the F1 could achieve 60 mph in 3.2 sec., 100 in 6.3, and an established top speed in excess of 240 mph.  Only one hundred and six McLarens were ever built–for a princely sum of £640,000.

There were supercars before and  there supercars after the F1, but none could ever achieve the same grace.  The Bugatti Veyron would break the record with the burden of two tons and the need for four turbochagers.  It could be said the Bugatti was more a pricey accessory than the genuine marvel the F1 had been.

Hence, the excitement of the MP4-12C.  It would be incorrect to proclaim the car as a successor to the F1: the MP4-12C is not of the proper supercar mold.  Instead, it runs more along the lines of lesser exotics, like the F430 and 911 Turbo.

There is no record-breaking speed limit here, no one thousand horsepower, and no $1,000,000 price tag.  It ranks well in all areas, but the MP4-12C is really an endeavor in building an excellent and more accessible premium sports car.  The engine is a twin-turbo, mid-mounted 3.8 L V-8 good for a maximum of 600 hp.  Shockingly, the high majority of that power is available at just 2,000 rpm.  The standard transmission is an in-house 7-spd. dual-clutch automated gearbox adjustable for various modes of driving–a must for serious exotic contenders.

Like the F1, the MP4-12C saves weight by employing composites and aluminum in its overall structure.  Total weight hovers around 3,000 lbs. making it more than featherweight, yet lighter than the “race-spec” Porsches and Lambos that have been put out over the past ten years.  The styling is part of an “organic” movement seen in the shapes of the Ferrari 458 and Lotus Evora: uninterrupted lines and seamless curves.

The MP4-12C is just the first of a new menu of sports cars coming from McLaren Automotive.  The landscape has changed much since the F1 hit Monaco in 1992, however.  Will it stand out?  Certainly.  The MP4-12C’s only real flaw would be the cluttered designation.  That hasn’t stopped the current of fascination and jubilation over this long-awaited debut.  Perhaps what is more special is that the McLaren offers something Maranallo, Stuttgart, and Sant’Agata don’t: real exclusivity.

After all, how many cars do you hear being a bargain at $200,000?