McLaren P1 concept revealed ahead of Paris Auto Show debut
At the Paris Motor Show, Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 (from September 29 to October 14), McLaren presents its P1 design study concept. Next year a production version, which the company aims to put on sale within 12 months, will be revealed. The McLaren P1 concept has one simple goal: to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track, said the company in a statement. In terms of both price and performance McLaren P1 supercar will sit above the 12C and 12C Spider, but McLaren fans will have to wait for the Paris Motor Show to get more informations. Expected to cost £800,000, McLaren P1 production will be limited to 500 models.
‘The McLaren P1 will be the result of 50 years of racing and road car heritage,’ says McLaren Automotive Executive Chairman Ron Dennis. ‘Twenty years ago we raised the supercar performance bar with the McLaren F1 and our goal with the McLaren P1 is to redefine it once again.’
‘Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a circuit,’ says McLaren Automotive Managing Director Antony Sheriff. ‘It is the true test of a supercar’s all round ability and a much more important technical statement. Our goal is to make the McLaren P1 the most exciting, most capable, most technologically advanced and most dynamically accomplished supercar ever made.’
McLaren Automotive has a 20 year heritage in producing landmark sports cars for the road: the McLaren F1 road car, which was launched in 1992, set the world land speed record for a production car, and is regarded as one of the iconic sports cars of the modern age. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (2003 – 2009) is the most successful supercar ever in its price bracket, having sold twice as many cars as its nearest carbon-based rival.
Around 4,000 sports cars will be built annually by the middle of the decade in the McLaren Production Centre, announced the company.
McLaren Automotive’s debut model is the 12C. Drawing on the company’s long-standing Formula 1 experience in its concept and development, the 12C is lighter, faster, more powerful, more fuel efficient and more exclusive than its key competition. It supports its performance benchmarks by introducing a unique one-piece moulded carbon chassis into the ‘core’ sports car segment in a new production method that brings the performance of £500,000 cars to market at a third of the price.
