Despite a 13 year hiatus from producing road-cars, McLaren is now planning on launching a new road-going vehicle every year, starting with the introduction of the new MP4-12C supercar.

While timelines are still hazy, we do know that forthcoming products include an MP4 GT3, intended for international motorsports competitions, and an open roof MP4-12C. Beyond that, a new smaller sports car aimed at the Porsche 911 and a flagship supercar positioned above the MP4-12C should give the brand a suitable product line to do battle with sports car makers from Italy and beyond.

McLaren also is experimenting with new technologies to maximize horsepower and fuel economy, including new battery technology that can extract one horsepower from a lithium ion cell the size of a AA battery. While McLaren claims that getting this into a road-going car isn’t going to happen immediately, the company is advertising aggressively for hybrid system engineers on their website. Truth be told, there’s far worse than a KERS system in a sports car, even if “purists” bristle at the though.

[Source: The Detroit Bureau]

When you’ve got luxury and exotic cars filling up your garage and your driveway, sometimes you have to get creative to store your most prized possessions. This collector of fine automobiles got really creative, finding a way to house two of his Lamborghinis since his other two were, well you know, taking up the driveway.

To some it might be awesome enough to have a McLaren stored in your garage, alongside two Lamborghinis in your driveway. But for this avid enthusiast that needed a way to store two more Lamborghinis, he built an underground garage that simply lifts the driveway to reveal his collection. So at any point in time when he wants to show off, the driveway is lifted and magically another two Lamborghinis are revealed.

Jealous? We sure are. Imagine the other things you could store in an underground garage.

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: 0-60 Mag]

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Ron Dennis, chairman of McLaren, was given a 6-month license suspension after running a red light near his home in Surrey, England. Having already racked up 9 demerit points on his license through previous speeding fines, Dennis was hit with another 3 for his exploits, resulting in an automatic ban.

Dennis claimed that he failed to stop due to fears that the car behind him would crash into him, since both cars were travelling at a high rate of speed. Dennis also asked the judge to give him his license back so that he could meet work and family commitments, but his request was denied.

[Source: Get Surrey]

The Sultan of Brunei’s extravagant car collection is something of an urban legend among auto enthusiasts. Most of the evidence surrounding its existence is anecdotal, with a few grainy photos having leaked out over the years on rare occasions. Now, Sports Car Market has published an article by car broker Michael Sheehan detailing the vastness of his collection – and how priceless supercars are sitting in ruin due to neglect.

In 2002, Sheehan attempted to negotiate a deal to purchase 13 cars, including a Ferrari F40 LM, Ferrari 288 GTO and a McLaren F1. The deal ultimately failed due to a lack of any documentation for the cars, which made them impossible to export, but Sheehan was given a tour of the Sultan’s automotive compound, and his story is captivating, with the full extent of the decay and neglect suffered by the cars conveyed dispassionately.

Sheehan vividly describes a mid-’90s Rolls-Royce convertible stating that it, “had gotten so hot with the windows up that the steering wheel’s foam padding had melted into a puddle on the driver’s seat and the leather wrap hung from the barren steel rim. The entire interior had ‘gone off’ with mold in the heat and humidity and the interior was a fuzzy gray!”

Tragic yet, but hey, if we had 300 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans (among thousands of other cars, including the bespoke Ferrari wagon seen here) we would have a hard time keeping track of our rides too.

[Source: Sports Car Market]

McLaren Automotive has officially revealed its new MP4-12C GT3 race car, with photos of their newest product lapping world famous Silverstone circuit in the U.K.

Powered by a modified version of the street car’s twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8, in race trim it swaps the dual-clutch setup for a new Ricardo racing transmission.

The GT3 car gets a custom aerodynamic setup including a massive rear spoiler and a body that is roughly 4-inches wider. Other upgrades include a new suspension setup, new electronics and Akebono brakes.

McLaren has announced the creation of McLaren GT, which will handle the company’s road-racing initiatives. The MP4-12C GT3 car will undergo testing through the 2011 season and is expected to contest some races in the FIA GT3 series before a full campaign for 2012.

GALLERY: Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 Race Car

It’s been about 20 years or so since you could get a carburetor on a mainstream passenger car, but that hasn’t stopped NASCAR from being the final holdout. For the last 47 years, stock cars have relied on carburetors to supply fuel to their pushrod V-8s.

Now that’s finally set to change. Beginning next year, the Sprint Cup will officially embrace fuel injection, with plans to have EFI motors installed and ready in time for the 2012 season opener at Daytona. In order to make it all happen, NASCAR is partnering with McLaren Electronic Systems (yes, part of the UK based McLaren Group of F1 fame).

McLaren will supply the ECUs for Sprint Cup engines, with a company called Freescale providing the actual processors. The electronic fuel injection system, software and calibrations all have to be approved by NASCAR before use and the organization has invested in special tools for testing the systems to ensure legality at all races during the course of the season.

Given political pressure placed on motorsports organizations to improve efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint, it was only a matter of time before NASCAR made some concessions – replacing carburetors with EFI systems is seen by many as a logical move.

In recent statements, both Ford Motorsports and Toyota Racing Development said they welcomed the change –  Ford’s Jamie Allison saying “we think it’s important that both the cars and technology in NASCAR are more closely related to production cars.”

TRD’s Lee White, echoed similar opinions also stating that from Toyota’s standpoint the benefits of adopting fuel injection “far outweigh the potential costs.”

Eight companies were originally asked to submit bids for NASCAR EFI systems, with McLaren selected as a winner from three finalists, the others were Bosch and Marelli.

Given NASCAR’s huge fan base, especially in the US, it will be interesting to see how the 2012 season pans out, though efficiency benefits or not, chairman Brian France perhaps summed it best when referring to the new move.

“We’re on a steady march to more technology in the cars, which is historically unlike us in some respects, provided that it doesn’t burden the teams with additional costs that don’t translate to our fan base,” he said. However, more importantly  an even bigger reason for adopting technology such as EFI, “is to make sure that it makes racing better.”

[Source: Fox Sports]

Having debuted to critical acclaim at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren Automotive’s highly anticipated road car, the MP4-12C has now gone into production, the very first example taking shape at the McLaren Technical Centre in Woking, Surrey, just outside of London.

The company has said that it plans to build 1,000 of the MP4-12Cs for 2011 and most of those will be assembled at McLaren’s brand new bespoke Production Centre, adjacent to the current facility, though chassis #001 will be entirely assembled at the existing MTC, in order to monitor engineering and production processes, which the company has been fine tuning, ever since the Technical Centre first opened back in 2004.

In addition, prototypes have undergone rigorous testing at the hands of McLaren F1 drivers and former World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button, who have been providing valued feedback during the MP4-12C’s development.

So far, the MP4-12C has a long waiting list of customers, stretching across the globe; Antony Sheriff, Managing Director of McLaren Automotive recently said, “meeting our prospective customers at launch events around the world, from Dubai to Cape Town, Paris to Los Angeles, has filled us with inspiration. There is a genuine desire for McLaren to be launching our own range of sports cars, and an exciting appreciation of what McLaren stands for: innovation, technology leadership, and a winning mentality.”

It has taken just five years for the MP4-12C to evolve from a concept developed in McLaren’s own F1 simulator to an ultra high performance car fully certified for street use. McLaren currently has a retailer network of 35 locations in some 19 different countries that will sell the final, production ready MP4-12C.

Pricing the U.S. is set at $229,000 for the 600-hp, twin-turbo V8 machine.

GALLERY: McLaren MP4-12C

See a short compilation video of the car over the past year after the jump:

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The Gulf Oil orange and blue livery is an iconic paint job that has transcended Gulf Oil’s demise into relative obscurity, with the classic colors still appearing on all kinds of racing merchandise, and even the Ford GT road car during its production run.

One collector of fine automobiles decided he liked the Gulf paint job so much, he bought all 14 of the cars that ever appeared. With storied names like Brabham, McLaren, Aston Martin and Porsche included (among them the greatest racer of all time, the 917), the price paid for the cars must have been nothing short of extravagant.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Hit the jump to see the list of Gulf Oil cars sold

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Of all the highly touted films screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the one we want to see most is Senna, a documentary on the life of three time Formula 1 world Champion Ayrton Senna.

Assembled entirely from previously unseen archival footage from Senna’s career (spanning from his youth karting days until his death in 1994), Senna captured the imagination of millions of Formula 1 fans around the world, leading to a global launch for the film – excluding North America.

Hopefully, the documentary will help Senna find a distributor for this market, as well the strong review in the L.A. Times. Even though Formula 1 is less than popular in the United States, the universal themes of passion, brotherhood and adventure will surely resonate with audiences who couldn’t tell you the difference between Ferrari and McLaren.

[Source: L.A. Times]

Trailer after the jump

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The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren was a rather special offspring from the marriage between a German auto giant and a British racing team. These carbon-fiber bodied supercars were fast and comfortable, making it the ultimate car to cross a continent in.

In the course of its life, there were a few models of the SLR that were offered, the coupe, the roadster plus the 722 editions of those two body styles which had more power. However, at the end of its production life, Mercedes-Benz and McLaren brought out a final version of this car called the SLR Stirling Moss edition (named after the famed racing driver who won the Mille Miglia race in 1955 in the original 300SLR).

This version has a unique speedster body that has no windscreen or roof and it features headlights and tail lights unique to this model (among many other things). Thanks to a 5.5-liter, supercharged V8, it produces 650-hp; enough to propel it from 0-60 mph in just 3.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 217 mph.

Only 75 examples of this extreme SLR were ever produced, but sadly none were destined to be sold in the U.S.A. because the D.M.V. did not classify it as a street-legal car.

However, one seems to have slipped through the net and is now up for sale in Miami, FL. According to the ad, this particular SLR Stirling Moss has just 50-miles on its odometer and comes with a showcar license, so it can be moderately used in America.

As for the price, its $1.75-million, but the owner is open to look at trade-ins. We’re only guessing but we don’t think he would be much interested in a beige Corolla. Too bad.

[Source: duPont Registry]

A supercar needs a super watch, and that’s why McLaren has partnered with Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer to bring us the special edition MP4-12C Chronograph.

Boasting innovative, high-performance and precision manufacturing principles, the TAG Heuer McLaren MP4-12C Chronograph gathers its inspiration from the McLaren MP4-12C, following its lead when it comes to color, materials and design. Its carbon dial is just like the 12C’s carbon fiber MonoCell (an engineering solution that makes the 12C incredibly light) and the watch’s movement can be seen through sapphire inserts on the dial, which reveals the “engine” behind the watch face.

It doesn’t stop there. The MP4-12C Chronograph also features a Flyback function that lets you reset to zero, and immediately restart it by pressing once on the push button. Other extras include a Titanium case that minimizes weight, an Alcantara leather strap, orange super luminescent markers on the hands, and orange stitching on the bracelet.

Only 1000 of these beauties are being made, so be sure to look for them in the later part of 2011.

[Source: Top Speed]

[Source: Autoblog]

GALLERY: McLaren MP4-12C

McLaren previewed what a race-ready version of their MP4-12C sports car will look like, when a small batch of GT3 class cars goes on sale in time for the 2012 FIA GT3 Series in Europe.

Apparently the GT3 version was developed alongside the road car, and considering that the race-trim McLaren F1 was able to win LeMans back in 1995, we’re optimistic that the MP4-12C GT3 will be an awesome performer – even if the name is an alphabet soup.

Customers can register their interest at the website below, but be advised that McLaren probably won’t even look at you unless you have some kind of offshore account to pay for this thing.

[Source: McLaren]

When Mercedes rolled out the SLR Stirling Moss edition at the Detroit Auto Show a few years back, we thought perhaps the onslaught of special edition versions of the overpriced and over-hyped supercar had finally come to an end. At least that’s what Mercedes would have had us believe, especially with the McLaren/Mercedes partnership coming to a tumultuous end.

McLaren has, however, just announced a new aftermarket kit for the car, debuting it at the recent Essen Motor Show in Germany. The package consists of new aerodynamics, an upgraded suspension, interior improvements and revised steering – easily the car’s biggest fault.

Just 25 kits will be offered by McLaren and while we really do wish they’d stop with the special editions, perhaps this McLaren kit will remove much of the diluting Mercedes did with what could have been a car more worthy of the ‘supercar’ name.

[Source: Autoblog Germany]

See video of the car after the jump:

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The McLaren MP4-12C will go on sale in the UK with a base price of £168,500, narrowly undercutting the Ferrari 458 Italia by £1,045. But due to new UK tax laws, the McLaren’s “on the road” price, including taxes and registration, will actually be £5 more than the 458 Italia.

A price increase is expected for the 458 Italia to account for the new taxes, but the car features ceramic brakes as standard, while they remain optional on the McLaren. The MP4-12C will be sold through three retail stores in the UK, in London, Manchester and Birmingham. McLaren’s last supercar, the F1, sold for £635,000 when released in 1994.

[Source: AutoExpress]

While it’s been assumed for quite some time now, McLaren’s M4-12C supercar will be hitting the racetrack in 2012. McLaren already has plans of releasing the M4-12C for sale next year, and with the aid of British CRS Racing will be unleashing a GT3 variant in 2012 with a GT2 version in 2013 (that could be racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans).

15 of McLaren’s MP4-12C GT3s will be unleashed in 2012, with some of the earlier developed vehicles attending races at the end of the 2011 season.

And no future race car would be complete without renderings. Thankfully Jon Sibal took his creative juices and did several McLaren MP4-12C’s and applied a ton of classic McLaren F1 GTR liveries to them. We’re very excited to see McLaren’s new pride and joy hitting the track in true race form.

[Source: Autoweek via Jon Sibal]

GALLERY: McLaren M4-12C Supercar

McLaren is believed to be developing a hybrid setup for use in future versions of its high-powered exotic sports cars. The revelation is the result of an ad posted by the British automaker looking for an electrical engineer who will work on the, “concept, design and development of the electrical package and wiring system for a hybrid electric vehicle.”

McLaren Automotive won’t confirm its hybrid development program but did say they are interested in hybrids. “All the advert means is that we are looking for a senior engineer in powertrain hybrid technology. Read into it what you will,” said a McLaren spokesman to AutoCar.

The use of a hybrid setup to add bursts of power, as well as conserve fuel makes sense as its a direct application of the Formula 1 KERS setup used in past seasons.

AutoGuide recently broke the story that McLaren is planning to roll our five models (or variants of models) over the next five years. And with previous reports already suggesting McLaren would deliver three models, its possible one of the remaining two variants could be a hybrid.

GALLERY: McLaren MP4-12C

[Source: AutoCar]

Aiming for a total production volume of 4,500 units, McLaren will introduce one new model (or a version of an existing model) per year for the next five years. McLaren North American chief Tony Joseph laid out the British automaker’s plans at a sit down lunch in Toronto, Canada – the first stop of a 10 city dealer tour in North America and the only one in Canada.

Joseph joined McLaren in early 2009, at which point we were surprise to learn that McLaren already had a prototype vehicle built. In fact, Joseph says the MP4-12C is part of a careful plan to take the racing company into the street car business; a plan that has been culminating for six years.

The connection to racing is extremely important for McLaren, helping it build a strong reputation. Stating that McLaren is “The most successful racing team in history,” Joseph continually came back to two key philosophies for both the brand and the car, namely, “substance over flash,” and “lower volume, higher standards.”

McLaren’s current plan is to sell just 1,000 units of the MP4-12C in its first year of production and so far that number seems easily attainable. Before the dealer network was announced several weeks ago and before the high-profile unveiling in front of one of the world’s wealthiest crowds at Pebble Beach, McLaren had already racked up 2,700 names of interested buyers. While Joseph did caution that “interested” doesn’t necessarily equate to a sale, McLaren would need just over a third of those potential clients to make its sales target. According to Joseph, the majority of those names weren’t Mercedes owners or Ferrari owners, but Porsche owners, a group that Joseph hints is familiar with the “substance over style” approach.

GALLERY: McLaren MP4-12C Launch in Toronto, Canada

As though the twin-turbocharged 592-hp carbon-chassis MP4-12C couldn’t get any cooler, McLaren has revealed that it will offer an optional Hero Cam setup in its new exotic.

It’s not clear if the option is included with or in addition to the Navigation system and 80 gig hard drive, but it will be available and if you’ve got the $225,000-plus to throw down on this high-tech exotic, then you certainly won’t be hard-pressed to shell out the extra cash for a fully loaded model.

There’s one video camera out the back, one recording the road ahead, plus, there’s even one located just over the driver’s right shoulder to get that perfect F1-style shot showing the driver’s head bobbing around under the incredible acceleration, braking and lateral g-forces.

Peter Freiberger, McLaren’s sales manager, informed us that owners will be able to download the videos via a USB key. We wonder how longer it will take before the first shots show up on YouTube – and then how long before the first bit of incriminating video is recorded.

It may be on the Concept Lawn at Pebble Beach, but the McLaren MP4-12C is not a hypothetical model – even if it’s named like one. One of very few carbon chassis vehicles in the world (a list which also includes the Lexus LFA, displayed directly next to the MP4-12C at Pebble Beach), this new McLaren model was not designed to be the supercar performer that the McLaren F1 was, but rather a usable exotic that will rival, and possible beat, the Ferrari 458 Italia in all categories.

Seeing it in person for the first time, with the Pebble Beach venue being its first North American showing, we’re still not sold on its looks, with an overall shape that doesn’t make us want to put up a poster of the car on our wall.

Power for the MP4-12C comes from a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 that makes 600-hp and 433 ft-lbs of torque and makes it to the ground through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. McLaren estimates a 0-60 mph time of less than 3.0 seconds. The elapsed time to 124-mph (200 km/h) is set at under 10 seconds.

Exact pricing for the MP4-12C has yet to be set, but will be between $225,000 and $250,000. So far, six dealers have been announced in North America, including Auto Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA; Park Place in Dallas, TX; Miller Motorcars in Greenwich, CT; Price Family Dealerships in San Francisco, CA; Lake Forest Sportscars of Chicago, IL and Dew Luxury Motor Cars in Tampa Bay, FL. McLaren is expected to announce their representatives in Philadelphia, Orange County, Toronto and Miami shortly.

GALLERY: McLaren MP4-12C

Fifteen years old is a rough age for a car. Most cars are just about bottomed out in terms of value around this age, even such “normal” supercars as the Ferrari F50, First-gen Zonda, and Lamborghini Diablo, all of which can be had for around half of their original asking prices. But what about the McLaren F1? The former record-holder for the fastest production car in the world doesn’t go down in value without a fight. In fact, it doesn’t go down in value at all. This particular example, #62, was purchased new in California by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, for the paltry sum of $1.4 million. Fifteen years later, when Gooding and Co. puts the F1 on the auction block at Pebble Beach (that’s 2 weeks, people), this F1 is expected to draw between $2.5 and $3.5 Million.

This doesn’t surprise us at all, since the F1 is pretty much right at the top of every car guy’s list of dream cars. But with only 74 roadgoing examples ever produced, the odds of seeing one in person, let along driving or owning one, are hovering between “snowball’s chance in hell” and “peace in the middle east.” Demand will forever outweigh supply for a car like this, and they change hands so rarely, it almost always makes news when an F1 finds a new home. Hit the jump to check out the official press release and some high-resolution images of Larry Ellison’s McLaren F1.

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McLaren’s upcoming MP4-12C supercar has attracted roughly 2700 expressions of interest from prospective buyers, enough to fill two years worth of production.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has been actively promoting the MP4-12C, claiming that its performance, build quality and dealer service surpass anything else in its category. The McLaren brand and unique powertrain (a 3.8L V8 making nearly 600 horsepower and assembled by Formula 1 contractor Ricardo) also lend cachet to the MP4-12C, which must compete with offerings like Ferrari’s 458 Italia and the upcoming Lamborghini Murcielago replacement.

[Source: Autocar]

Having already announced it’s new MP4-12C exotic and setting up a worldwide dealer network, McLaren is now planning a successor to its F1 supercar, reports AutoCar. When the McLaren F1 debuted back in 1992 it created a new standard for performance vehicles and set a top speed record that stood for over a decade until the launch of the Bugatti Veyron in 2006.

McLaren has already announced plans to build additional models, with rumors of a more entry-level vehicle competing with the Porsche 911. This is the first serious report that a true successor to the F1 is in the works.

According to reports, an inside source at McLaren has said the new car will be “revolutionary” and will also look the part. Apparently McLaren designers have taken note of the fact that while the MP4-12C is regarded as an incredible machine, it’s styling isn’t nearly as captivating as the F1.

Other than the fact that it will use a carbon fiber monocoque chassis and feature a mid-engine layout, there are no confirmed details on the car and it’s not known if like it’s predecessor it will use a central driving position.

[Source: AutoCar]

For those of us who couldn’t attend the Goodwood Festival Of Speed, don’t fret, because we’ve managed to compile all of the best videos into one handy post. All of them feature some kind of pricey sports car running up the hill at Lord March’s Estate. Sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy. There’s a surprise at the very end as well.

Hit the jump to view the videos

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