MacLaren (automotive brand)

MacLaren logo

McLaren Automotive is a British private company specializing in the production of supercars. It is part of McLaren Technology Group Limited , which also includes McLaren Racing Limited and several other technology companies.

McLaren was founded in 1963 by New Zealand Formula One driver Bruce McLaren and American Ted Mayer, who registered Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd to compete in the Tasman Motor Racing Series in New Zealand. Bruce McLaren won the 1963 championship and spent the next two years in Formula One as a driver for the Cooper team . The Formula One debut for McLaren's own team was the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix . The 1970 season was tragic for the team - on June 2, while testing a new car for the American CanAm series, Bruce McLaren died. Over the following years, the team took part in Formula 1 and other competitions with varying success. In 1979, after a third unsuccessful season in a row, the decision was made to terminate McLaren's participation in the American series, which turned McLaren into an exclusively "formula" team. In 1980, the company merged with Ron Dennis' Project 4 racing team. The merger resulted in designer John Barnard, who was interested in using carbon fiber composite. Carbon fiber has already been used in aerospace applications, but has never been applied to a full monocoque race car. McLaren first used carbon fiber in auto racing with their new car, the MP4/1, bringing new levels of rigidity and driver safety to Formula One. In August 1988, Dennis, team principal and Gordon Murray started developing a new car, and in 1992 the F1 was launched with a total production of just 106 units.

In 1989, McLaren began to develop road cars and in 1992 released its first model, McLaren F1 , as the name suggests, with the maximum share of "formula" technology. In just 6 years of production, 106 copies were produced. In 2003, a joint development of McLaren and Mercedes-Benz was born - Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. By this point, Mercedes had been supplying engines for McLaren cars for several years and owned 40% of the McLaren Group. Initially, it was planned to produce 500 cars annually for 7 years, but in six years about 2000 copies were produced and in 2009 the project was closed. The next McLaren model was the McLaren MP4-12C supercar (2011-2014). McLaren Automotive has appointed a new Head of Design, Robert Melville, who has been with the company since 2009  . Based on the MP4-12C, the McLaren 650S and several of its variants were also later released. In addition, the model range was replenished with a relatively more affordable sports car McLaren 570S [en] and its even more “urban” version 540C. In 2013, McLaren launched its first hybrid supercar, the McLaren P1 , which is still in production today. As design director for McLaren, Melville led the development of some of McLaren's most iconic models, such as the McLaren Senna, McLaren Speedtail, McLaren Elva and 765LT. In 2020, McLaren launched the Speedtail , McLaren's first ever Hyper-GT model ("Our most aerodynamically efficient car ever. And McLaren's fastest to date"). With an unprecedented hybrid powertrain from a modified M840T with 1,070 hp. at its core. It brings together unprecedented levels of innovation and elegance to create a new benchmark in the automotive industry. The Speedtail has a top speed of 402.3 km/h (250 mph) and can accelerate from 0-299 km/h (0-186 mph) in 12.8 seconds. McLaren introduced previously promised open car, both powerful and very light supercar, he received the name McLaren Elva, associated with the name of one historical model of the brand. The newcomer is driven by a twin-turbo-eight 4.0 with a return of 815 hp. and 800 N•m; This is a variation of the engine used in the McLaren Senna and Senna GTR models, with a flat crankshaft, lightweight connecting rods and pistons, and a dry sump lubrication system. In the 1960s, brand founder Bruce McLaren developed a "customer" open version of a mid-engined racing car, called the McLaren M1A, with a tubular steel frame reinforced with magnesium alloy parts, a composite body and fully independent suspension with adjustable springs and dampers; the model received a V8 4.5 engine with a capacity of 344 hp, and weighed only 551 kg. For the sake of it to name its “ultimate” roadster of the 21st century, McLaren specifically bought the rights to the Elva trademark.  The car features an innovative technology - the Active Air Management System (AAMS) - a special body aerodynamics that redirects air flows around the passenger compartment and replaces the cabin glazing.

 Its available models are divided in four series: Sports (Artura, 570S), Super (720S, 650S, 12C), Ultimate (Senna, Speedtail, Elva) and GT. The cheapest version available in retail is MacLaren GT available for approx. 200,000 USD. The most expensive retail available is Speedtail - first hybrid in the catalogue with its base price of 2.25 million USD in 2022.

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