The McLaren MP4-12C is sleek, tech-savvy and if you’re an auto enthusiast, a name you need to know in 2011.
The Formula 1-inspired two-seater is a techie’s dream thanks to doors without handles, cameras that record and upload your drive and an iPod-inspired touch-screen dashboard.
Due to hit North American roads in July or August of next year, McLaren is already taking names (although no orders yet) of prospective buyers. There are more 3,000 on the list to date.
Not bad for a car that will cost between $225,000-$250,000 when price is finally set. And I should mention that only 1,000 will be made in 2011, and of that number only 30-35% will come to North America.
McLaren Automotive built a name and a business around racing, constructing cars almost exclusively for the track. The exceptions until now have been the McLaren F1, a sports car collaboration with Gordon Murray, and the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren, a $450,000 grand tourer that first hit the luxury auto market in 2003.
Perhaps more than the car’s actual accoutrements, that fact is what makes the McLaren MP4-12C a name to watch for in 2011; it’s quite literally the first modern production car designed and manufactured completely in-house and solely by McLaren.
According to Anthony Joseph, Director for McLaren Automotive North America, the 2011 model is only the start of a series of sports cars from the company.
“This, the MP4-12C, is our launch car. Our plan is to introduce a new car, a new variant every 12 months. So by mid-decade we should be somewhere around 4,500 cars worldwide,” explains a smiling Joseph. “This is the launch of our company essentially.”
Do you think the McLaren MP4-12C is a name you need to know in 2011? Why or why not? Are there other names we should watch out for in the auto world? What are they? post Your Comment and tell us.
