An affordable exotic? The McLaren MP4-12C supercar is, judged by the standards of the people who buy rare, ultra-fast cars. That's a pre-production car above in the Drive On parking lot this week. When the car rolls into McLaren's 10 North American dealerships -- nine in the U.S. and one in Canada -- in October, the starting price is to be $231,400, including $2,400 shipping from the factory in Woking, U.K.
MORE PHOTOS: A new supercar is coming
Any gas-guzzler tax would be additional, and McLaren's U.S. chief, Anthony Joseph, says there might not be one: "In testing, we're very close" to the fuel-economy target that excuses cars from fuel-use tax of up to $7,700 as a punishment for petro-thirst.
By Tim Loehrke, USAT
Because some rivals are priced higher and aren't as rare or as visually distinctive. Others are lower-priced, but can be mistaken for lesser models.
Two examples:
- Lamborghini Gallardo, which is rated 562 hp, starts several thousand dollars higher, but does come with all-wheel drive.
- Audi R8 V-10, 560 hp and AWD, is about $200,000, but to most people resembles the lesser $115,000 R8 V-8.
And if you want to compare the McLaren to the 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron supercar, well, there's no comparison, really, The Bugatti's $1.8 million and up. The shipping charge alone for the Veyron is more than you probably paid for your last several cars -- $51,000.
The 12C will come with driver-adjustable drivetrain and suspension: Normal, sport and track. You can get the car with small, integrated cameras that will give you video of all those foul-ups you make on the track. Separately, the car will record an array of track data that you can transfer to your home computer to study and get better next time. ("I slowed down how much for that corner? C'mon; it felt like flat-out.")
One of the oddest features, and full specs:
One of the oddest features is a "winter" setting that lets the car start off on slippery roads with less tendency to spin the tires. Really? Does McLaren expect owners to use the car that way? Or on the road at all? Absolutely, and even will furnish a recommendation for size and type of snow tires.
The 12C is the first production car from race-oriented McLaren since its partnership with Mercedes-Benz for the Mercedes SLR, which ended in 2008.
Before that was the purely McLaren F1, a road car despite the race-series name. Joseph says 106 were made from 1991 through 1993, and notes that a used one recently sold for more than $4 million.
McLaren Automotive is a unit of McLaren Group, founded by racer Bruce McLaren several decades back, mainly to build really fast racers.
Joseph says the company expects to sell about 300 12C cars in the U.S. per year. And the plan, he adds, is to add a new version, or an entirely new model, every 12 months, without boosting production, so rarity is assured.
The 12C specs:
- 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-8 of McLaren design, rated 592 hp at 7,000 rpm, 443 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3,000 rpm, mated to seven-speed dual-clutch "manumatic" transmission that normally shifts automatically but can be controlled manually.
- Carbon-fiber passenger compartment, aluminum and alloy structure.
- Top speed advertised as 205 mph; 0-to-60 mph in 3.2 seconds with standard tires, 3 seconds flat with optional Corsa tires.
- Size, similar to rivals: 177.5 inches long, 75.1 in. wide, just 47.2 in. high on a 105.1-in. wheelbase, about 3,300 lbs. in European trim, a bit more equipped for the U.S.
McLaren has dealers in Greenwich, Conn., Philadelphia, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Newport Beach, Calif., Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto.
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