McLaren P1 Production Car Shown in Patent Drawings?
British sports car manufacturer McLaren revealed concept images last week of its upcoming P1 supercar ahead of the scheduled Paris debut, but the patent drawing above might lend clues to the actual production car’s shape.
Likely to keep the same design cues as the released images, the P1 looks a lot like the lesser 12C.
But some of that might have to do with the fact that it still isn’t in production form. Given its rumored 960-hp rating, the car will need to be carefully engineered for downforce lest it take flight.
That’s where the drawings seen here come into play. If they turn out to be real, many of the visible differences would make sense. For
example, the patent drawing car has a longer nose, additional vents to the front wheel wells and a much larger rear diffuser.
All of those would suggest the car is being groomed by McLaren’s engineers for the high performance it’s expected to achieve.
When the concept images were released, McLaren Automotive managing director Antony Sheriff said the brand plans to offer “the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a circuit.”
While it’s premature to judge the car in concept form or otherwise, the differences between the two would support the goals Sheriff discussed.
Apart from that, the tail lights wrap farther around the car’s rear, and you can see a retractable rear spoiler not visible in previous images.
GALLERY: McLaren P1
[Source: L’Automobile Magazine]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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