New McLaren F1 on the way

It has been revealed that McLaren is planning a new version of the McLaren F1 (above).

When Ron Dennis announced he was giving up running the McLaren F1 team, he said it was exactly the opposite of retirement. In fact, he said he’d be busier than ever. Well, we have known about the McLaren P11 project for some time – the LP560-4/F450 competitor – and we brought you news a little while ago about a small McLaren to take on the likes of the Porsche 911 and Audi R8, but now comes the news that McLaren are planning on building a replacement for the legendary McLaren F1.

The McLaren F1 was, and in many eyes still is, the ultimate supercar. Conceived in the early ’90s, and brought to the world in 1994, the F1 held the supercar crown for years, and is still considered by many to be the greatest of all time. Yes, it’s lost its ‘Fastest Production Car’ tag to the Bugatti Veyron (and all the others ‘Production’ cars that claim the crown), but is still the fastest naturally aspirated car ever made.

The original F1 was designed by Gordon Murray, who has now gone on to do his own thing with GMD and the T25 city car, but McLaren hired Frank Stephenson to spearhead McLaren’s design future for its road cars, and it is Stephenson who has revealed that McLaren are pushing ahead with an F1 replacement.

The original McLaren F1 was powered by a specially made BMW V12, but this time it looks like McLaren intends using a very tweaked and modified version of Mercedes’ 6.2 litre V8 which, if the new generation F1 is half as nimble as the original should give scintillating performance. Remember, this is the same engine that in unmodified form propels the two ton E63 AMG to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds. In a new McLaren F1 we should see that drop in to the mid to high 2 seconds.

Frank Stephenson says he’s starting from scratch with the F1′s design, but I’m sure he will throw more than a passing nod to its predecessor. Look out Bugatti. Look out Koenigsegg!

By Cars UK