McLaren’ s grand vision
SOME good news for the British car industry this week. I’ve been on the Continent driving the latest UKmade McLaren GT, its powerful and refined 203 mph grand tourer — and I was bowled over.
Billed as an ‘everyday’ supercar (fine if you’ve an ‘everyday’ £200,000 in your back pocket), it has gorgeous, aerodynamic lines and is elegantly sophisticated, rather than shouty — a beautiful British understatement.
With dramatic winged doors delivering a flourish of theatre, it will always attract attention — even among the super-rich on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France, where I was driving it.
This smart Surrey boy from Woking can give its snakehipped Italian rivals a run for their money for charm, as well as agility, as it’s 130kg lighter than its nearest competitor.
Bosses stress that this is their first true venture into the grand tourer market. Priced from £163,000, the car I drove, loaded with extras, would cost £201,650, the burnished copper paint job alone adding £4,000.
It’s the fourth and latest car in McLaren’s Track25 business plan, which will see £1.2 billion invested in 18 new models and derivatives in the near future.
It’s powered by a new 4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine — linked to a slick, automatic seven- speed seamless shift gearbox with manual paddles — which develops a hefty 620 hp, equivalent to six Ford Fiestas.
Acceleration from rest to 60 mph takes 3.1 seconds (rest to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds) and it can get up to 124 mph in 9 seconds.
It’s thirsty, returning little more than 20 mpg, with CO2 emissions a high 270g/km. But there’s a surprising amount of luggage space at 570 litres, including a deep 150 litres under the bonnet. It should do wonders for British exports.
Elsewhere, British oil boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to invest £600 million in a new factory near the site of the soon-to-be- closed Ford Bridgend works in South Wales.
Hundreds of jobs will be created to produce 25,000 Grenadiers annually, the new back-to-basics 4x4, showing confidence in manufacturing after Brexit.