New McLaren F1

[vztrt]

To be released in 2011

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...rticleID=62356

New McLaren supercars target Ferrari
Jez Spinks, drive.com.au, April 23, 2009

Formula One team McLaren will take its intense rivalry with Ferrari from the track to the road with a new range of supercars.

The British racing outfit that in the 1990s boasted the world’s fastest production car – the F1 – will launch its first new model in 2011.

McLaren believes the economic conditions will have improved by then and has told media it is planning to build up to 4000 supercars a year by 2015, under a new spin-off company called McLaren Automotive.

The first supercar has been in development for two years and has been photographed by Drive’s spy cameras during cold-weather testing.

It is expected to be similar in size to Ferrari’s F430, with 1000 built in 2011 – considerably more than the 100 McLaren F1s made between 1993 and 1998.

McLaren is seeking new investors for its supercar program, after announcing previously it would end at the end of 2009 its SLR road-car co-operation with majority shareholder and F1 engine partner Mercedes-Benz.

McLaren Automotive will be led by Ron Dennis, who has stepped down from running the F1 team having steered the marque to multiple world championships since 1980.

The company opened a stunning new technical centre in 2004 to incorporate both its F1 and supercar programs, though an additional new factory is also planned for what is believed will be a three-model range.

The original McLaren F1 was powered by a BMW V12 engine and was the world’s fastest product car between 1998 and 2005, before it was dethroned by the Bugatti Veyron.