PRETTY EXTREME

Shamilee Vellu heads to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the global premiere of McLaren Automotive’s new 600LT.

Amid a glorious summer (thanks to an ongoing heatwave), festivalgoers gathered in the grounds of Goodwood House for an extravaganza of classic car displays, electrifying stunt driving, track racing, daytime fireworks and the opportunity to ogle the magnificent menagerie coming out of the supercar paddock.

Every year, motoring enthusiasts head to the Duke of Richmond’s estate for their annual slice of automotive nirvana, and this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, held from 12 to 15 July, pulled out all the stops on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

It was a banner year for McLaren Automotive, which fresh off the success of its Senna, chose the occasion to unveil a triumvirate of exciting launches: its ambitious Track 25 business plan, its Ultimate Series supercar and the world debut of the McLaren 600LT. Said to be the quickest, most powerful road-legal Sports Series McLaren, the 600LT debuted its particular brand of blistering acceleration on Goodwood’s famed Hillclimb track, 60 seconds of pure exhilaration for the very lucky people who get to drive – or in my case – be driven down it very, very fast. And fast it is – the 600LT goes from 0-100km/ hr in just 2.9 seconds, 0-200km/hr in 8.2 seconds and tops out at 328km/hr.

Inspired by the renowned McLaren 675LT models and their iconic ‘Longtail’ McLaren F1 GTR racing predecessor, the 600LT has all the physical hallmarks of a true McLaren ‘Longtail’, including an extended front splitter, lengthened rear diffuser, fixed rear wing and elongated silhouette – in this case by 74mm compared to a McLaren 570S Coupe. It’s a true track-focused supercar, with a unique aerodynamic bodywork, working in conjunction with the flat carbon fibre floor to produce 100kg of downforce at 250km/hr that generates more grip and greater stability at high speeds.

It doesn’t hold back on the carbon fibre, which is used together with other lightweight materials to achieve a lightest dry weight of 1,247kg. With the optional Super-Lightweight Carbon Fibre Racing Seats developed for the McLaren Senna fitted, the 600LT weighs 100kg less than a 570S Coupe.

It’s a stunner that, according to McLaren Automotive’s design director Robert Melville, bears all the hallmarks of a McLaren design, primarily its “shrink-wrapped” visage, where the bodywork appears tightly ‘wrapped’ over the engineering package, giving the car the appearance of “a really tight, athletic look”.

The muscular beast was a fitting harbinger to McLaren Automotive’s announcement of its £1.2 billion (S$2.1 billion) Track 25 business plan, which will see it launch 18 models and derivatives between now and 2025, by which it has also committed to make its sportscar and supercar range fully hybrid.

It also lifted the veil off the highly secretive BP23 project, which it revealed as the McLaren Speedtail, the world’s first Hyper-GT and the brand’s next entrant to its Ultimate Series.

The massive investment will lift production by almost 75 per cent over current levels to around 6,000 cars a year, which will be hand assembled at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking, England. It’s a tantalising prospect to consider as I tour the futuristic Norman Foster-designed Technology Centre and adjoining Production Centre, where supercars are put together by humans in a strikingly quiet, robot-free environment.

It’s a development that would surely put a smile on the face of the man who started it all, according to his daughter Amanda McLaren, who serves as brand ambassador.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think he’d be proud of it. I know this is because he was planning to build road cars,” she says, showing me a picture of her in a prototype outside a storefront.

And what does she think Bruce would say about the 600LT? “I know,” she says, laughing. ‘Gimme the keys, where’s the track?’.” www.goodwood.com

The 600LT goes from 0-100km/hr in just 2.9 seconds, 0-200km/hr in 8.2 seconds and tops out

at 328km/hr.

FIA bronze racing driver Mia Flewitt was also

at the festival. The 600LT is only the fourth

McLaren in two decades to receive the LT – or Longtail –

name. From far left:

Amanda McLaren with her father’s first race car; the aggressive appearance of the 600LT is a function of its track-focused

intent.