McLaren MP4-12C – Just Good Enough?

Probably the most anticipated supercar launch of the last 15 years has failed to move me like it should have. High expecatations is not nearly enough to describe my thoughts on McLaren’s latest foray into street car territory where their first model left everything in the dust. 11 years after the end of its production run, the F1 still has no heir to the title of world’s greatest supercar. The ridiculous SLR-McLaren is just a simple boil on a baboon’s backside compared to the F1, and frankly, a disgrace to the name McLaren. In my eyes it’ll forever be just a Merc.
The MP4-12C will undoubtedly be a great car, magnificent even. Rivalling Ferrari’s 458 Italia all the way to the finish line with technological masterpiece solutions like the “highest hp to CO2 ratio of any car on the market”, a Seamless Shift Gearbox and lots of other anorak goodies.

I am guessing my failure to make the kind of guttural sounds mostly associated with having a naked woman doing pleasurable things to me has to do with the market McLaren has chosen to tackle. Instead of Pagani, Gumpert and Koenigsegg, they’re opting for the Gallardo and 458 Italia customer. So for €200′000 it is impressive, no doubt, and will probably play the fart game with them just to show who the bigger brother is. The scissor doors and performance figures are both trademarks of supercardom but I still miss the kind of uncompromising approach to the project that my favourite genious Gordon Murray managed to swing with the F1. But it’s good to see them trying.

Tags: 458, F1, Gallardo, Italia, lamborghini, McLaren, mp4-12c

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.