McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive
manufacturer
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...
based at the
McLaren Technology Centre
The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group and its subsidiaries, located on a 500,000 m2 (50-hectare) site in Woking, Surrey, England. The complex consists of two buildings: the original McLaren Technology Centre, ...
in
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
, England. The main products of the company are
supercars
A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...
, which are produced in-house in designated production facilities. In July 2017, McLaren Automotive became a wholly owned subsidiary of the wider
McLaren Group
The McLaren Group is a British holding company based in Woking, England, which is involved in Formula One and other motorsport and the manufacture of luxury cars.
The group was founded by Ron Dennis shortly after his acquisition of the McLaren ...
.
History
Origin and founder
McLaren Automotive replaced McLaren Cars in 2010. McLaren Cars had been founded in 1985 and released the
McLaren F1
The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to b ...
in 1992. Between 1994 and 2010, McLaren Cars was registered as a 'dormant company', before the founding of McLaren Automotive in 2010. The new company was originally separate from the existing McLaren companies to enable investment in the new venture, but was brought together in July 2017 after
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
sold his shares in McLaren Automotive and
McLaren Group
The McLaren Group is a British holding company based in Woking, England, which is involved in Formula One and other motorsport and the manufacture of luxury cars.
The group was founded by Ron Dennis shortly after his acquisition of the McLaren ...
.
McLaren's Formula One founder
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
was born in Auckland,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 1937. McLaren learned about cars and engineering at his parents' service station and workshop in his hometown,
Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. By 15, he had entered a local
hillclimb in an Austin 7 Ulster; winning his first race in the car. In 1958, McLaren arrived in the United Kingdom with the ‘Driver to Europe’ scheme, intended to help Australian and New Zealand racers to compete in Europe. His mentor,
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
Brabham was a R ...
introduced him to Cooper Cars, a small team based in
Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
, Surrey. Auspiciously starting his Formula One career in 1958, McLaren joined the
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team a year later. That same year, he won the US Grand Prix at age 22, making him the youngest Grand Prix winner to that date. He stayed with Cooper for a further seven years, winning three more Grands Prix and other races, driving for
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, & winning the
24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
.
McLaren founded Bruce
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
Motor Racing in 1963. A year later, the company built the first McLaren race car – the M1A; 24 were produced. Its successor, the M1B, allowed McLaren into the
Can-Am
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
championship and emerged the dominant victor with 43 victories, almost three times more than rival
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
. In 1965, the first McLaren Formula One car, the M2B, debuted at the
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...
.
After his victories and time in the F3, McLaren was designing and testing a prototype M6GT-registered OBH 500H, a light
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
with an estimated top speed of 165 mph and zero to 100 mph time of eight seconds. However, McLaren died in a car accident in 1970 before the prototype could be completed.
Merging, spinoff and growth
In 1980, the company merged with
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
’ Project 4 Racing team. The merger brought back designer,
John Barnard
John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with Mc ...
, interested in using
carbon fibre composite
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
. Carbon fibre was already used in aerospace applications but had never been applied to a complete racing car
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
. McLaren pioneered the use of carbon fibre in motor racing with its new car, the MP4/1, bringing new levels of rigidity and driver safety to Formula 1. In August 1988, Dennis, Team Principal and
Gordon Murray
Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive.
Early life
Born t ...
started to develop a new car and in 1992, the
F1 was launched with a total production run of just 106 units.
Following a brief collaboration with
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
for the
SLR McLaren
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (C199 / R199 / Z199) is a grand tourer jointly developed by German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive and sold from 2003 to 2009. When the car was develope ...
, McLaren Automotive was re-launched as a standalone manufacturer in 2010,
spinning off McLaren Racing
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. The company launched the 12C in 2011 and the Spider model in 2012. The limited-run
P1 went into production in 2013 and ended in 2015. After introducing a business plan to release a car or model every year, the company unveiled the 650S in Coupé and Spider models in 2014, and unveiled the new Sports Series range comprising the McLaren 570S and 540C in 2015. The company debuted a car for children, the P1TM, after the P1, in September 2016 and announced the same month that they are developing a powerful battery for
Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
. On October 2016,
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
s were reported to be looking at a proposition for land opposite of the McLaren Technology Centre for
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
and announced the "Pure McLaren Arctic Experience" the same month, an event where a participant is trained to drive a 570S in the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
.
Headquarters and facilities
McLaren Automotive is based at the
McLaren Technology Centre
The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group and its subsidiaries, located on a 500,000 m2 (50-hectare) site in Woking, Surrey, England. The complex consists of two buildings: the original McLaren Technology Centre, ...
, alongside the rest of the McLaren Group, and at the adjacent McLaren Production Centre. The two facilities are connected by a subterranean walkway, with the MPC built partially underground to minimise its presence.
In 2017 McLaren announced the construction of the £50m McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) at the
Advanced Manufacturing Park
The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is a manufacturing technology park in Waverley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and developed by thHarworth Group previously the prope ...
in
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
. The facility will build
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
chassis for future McLaren road cars. The facility aims to give McLaren greater control over the manufacture of composite tubs, providing an opportunity to increase the pace of the design and development of the tubs. Full production will begin at the MCTC by 2020. The MCTC was officially opened by
The Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
,
Duchess of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
, and the
Crown Prince of Bahrain in November 2018.
Products and strategy
McLaren's first purpose-built road car was the F1, based on a concept developed by
Gordon Murray
Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive.
Early life
Born t ...
that he convinced Ron Dennis to back. McLaren Cars went into hibernation following the completion of the F1's production run, and McLaren didn't return to the production car market until launching McLaren Automotive in 2010, just prior to the release of the MP4-12C (eventually simplified to just 12C) in 2011.
McLaren launched its current three-tier product structure in 2015, dividing their range of cars into the Sports, Super, and Ultimate Series. Cars in the Sports and Super Series are given names based on the car's power output in
PS, followed by a model designation (C for club, S for sport, GT for grand tourer and LT for longtail). The entry-level Sports Series consists of the 570S, 570S Spider, 570GT, 540C, 600LT and 600LT Spider. The Super Series, considered to be McLaren's core model range, originally included the 650S, 625C, and 675LT. These were replaced with the 720S in 2017 (and 720S Spider in 2018). The high-end Ultimate Series was led by the P1 and P1 GTR, now it includes the Senna, Senna GTR and the upcoming Speedtail, intended to be the successor to the original F1. The F1 and 12C were retroactively included in the Ultimate and Super Series, respectively.
Models
Bold text signifies a model is currently being produced.
1996_McLaren_F1_Chassis_No_63_6.1_Front.jpg, A McLaren F1, the company's first supercar model.
Mclaren_MP4_12C_(27440056869).jpg, A McLaren MP4-12C, the first self-made production model after a decade's hiatus.
Mclaren_720S_PA280973-PSD.jpg, The mid-level 720S model.
Mclaren_P1,_Basel_01.jpg, A P1, the company's first hybrid supercar.
Collaborations
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
![Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (8615973055) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Mercedes-Benz_SLR_McLaren_%288615973055%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 1999, McLaren agreed to design and manufacture the SLR (also known as P7) in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz. DaimlerChrysler was the engine supplier to McLaren Racing through its Formula One partner Mercedes-Benz division. The final stages of production of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren took place at a designated assembly facility at the McLaren Technology Centre.
The SLR featured a 5.5 litre supercharged V8 engine that produced at 6500 rpm and of torque at 3250–5000 rpm. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 3.8 seconds and 0 to 100 mph (0–161 km/h) in 6.3 seconds.
In 2006, the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR 722 Edition was announced. The "722 Edition" produced at 6500 rpm and of torque at 4000 rpm,
with a top speed of (3 km/h more than the standard SLR). A new suspension is used with 19-inch (480 mm) light-alloy wheels, a stiffer damper configuration and 0.4 inches (10 mm) lower body.
In 2007, the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Convertible was announced, which has been available from late 2007. The car uses the same supercharged 5.5 litre V8 that is in the coupé.
A limited edition called the SLR Stirling Moss was introduced. The car was the final SLR produced and a tribute to
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
. Beneath the scissor-doors is a plaque with Moss' signature on it.
Unreleased vehicles
The partnership between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren resulted in three further cars being proposed. The P9 was to be a mid-engined baby supercar with a less expensive model, with the P8 (or "SLS") competing with cars such as the
Ferrari F430
The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled a ...
,
Bentley Continental GT
The Bentley Continental GT is a grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British automaker Bentley Motors since 2003. It was the first car released by Bentley under Volkswagen AG management, after the company's acquisition in 1998, and the fir ...
, and
Aston Martin DB9
The Aston Martin DB9 is a grand tourer produced by Aston Martin. Available both in coupé and a convertible bodystyles, the latter being known as the Volante, the DB9 was the successor to the DB7. It was first shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Aut ...
. Both cars were to be powered by naturally aspirated V8 engines. The P10 would have been an SLR replacement.
All three cars were aborted in 2005, with Mercedes rumoured to have considered the projects simply too costly to turn into a solid business case, although Mercedes' AMG subsidiary produced a flagship sports car called the
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production grand tourer developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. The car is ...
. The car had a naturally aspirated V8 with over 570 bhp (430 kW; 580 PS); however, it is not thought to be related to the P8 project.
Divisions
McLaren GT
McLaren GT is the
GT racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is o ...
arm of McLaren Automotive, established in 2011 to develop, build and support all McLaren track and GT race activities. The division is currently responsible for the design, development and production of the
720S GT3 and
570S GT4, along with the new
Artura GT4 and Artura Trophy.
The first car developed by McLaren GT was the 12C GT3, which was launched in 2011, and following a development year, 25 examples were delivered to customers for racing throughout Europe in 2012. The debut season saw 13 McLaren GT customer teams visit 14 countries and between them, the teams claimed a total of 19 race victories in the FIA GT1 World Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series, Barcelona 24hours, British GT, City Challenge Baku, FFSA French GT and GT Cup.
A total of 19 McLaren GT customer teams contested the 2013 season, entering 108 races across 15 championships globally. In total, the teams claimed 27 pole positions, 23 victories, a further 39 podium finishes and three championship titles.
Following the successful 2013 season, McLaren GT expanded its customer support with the competitive debut for the 12C GT3 car in the Pirelli World Challenge championship in North America.
Around 15 examples of the 650S GT3 made race debuts during the 2015 race season, claiming a number of victories. Most notably the McLaren GT customer racing team Von Ryan Racing took victory at the Blancpain Endurance Series at Silverstone, marking the first win in the Blancpain Endurance Series for the 650S GT3 in its debut competitive season.
The 650S GT3 was the dominant GT car in 2016. In February, Australian team
Tekno Autosports
Tekno Autosports was an Australian motor racing team, established in the 1990s initially for the motor racing activities of Stephen Webb, and later his son Jonathon Webb. The team competes in the Supercars Championship using two Holden ZB Commo ...
won the
2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour
The 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour was an endurance race for a variety of GT and touring car classes, including: GT3 cars, GT4 cars and Group 3E Series Production Cars. The event, which was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, near Bath ...
at the
Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
with drivers
Álvaro Parente
Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver.
Career
Early career
After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...
,
Shane van Gisbergen
Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989) is a New Zealand racing driver in the Supercars Championship racing in the Number 97 Holden ZB Commodore car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. With three Supercars Championship wins (2016, 2021, 202 ...
and
Jonathon Webb
Jonathon Webb (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian former professional racing driver and team owner of Team Sydney, who once co-drove alongside Fabian Coulthard in the No. 19 Holden ZB Commodore for the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
In 2016, Webb and ...
.
In the
2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
The 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was the sixth season of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The season started on 24 April at Monza and ended on 18 September at the Nürburgring. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting ...
, British team
Garage 59
A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include:
*Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...
won the
3 Hours of Monza and the
1000 km on their way to the title with their team of van Gisbergen,
Rob Bell
Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest-g ...
and Côme Ledogar.
McLaren Special Operations
McLaren Special Operations is McLaren's bespoke division. Officially launched in 2011, MSO's origins date back over 20 years, as the division grew out of the McLaren Customer Care Programme that was set up in the early 1990s to service, maintain and personalise the McLaren F1 for owners.
References
External links
McLaren Automotiveofficial website
McLaren Performance Technologiesofficial website
How It Works magazine article
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom
Motor vehicle manufacturers of England
A
Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
Sports car manufacturers
Companies based in Surrey
British companies established in 1985
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1985
1985 establishments in England
Car brands