McLaren Speedtail, 2018

400kph McLaren Speedtail hypercar revealed but team not planning 2020 WEC entry

World Endurance Championship

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The new McLaren Speedtail has been described as the “fastest ever McLaren” but the team is unlikely to race it under the World Endurance Championship’s new hypercar-focused rules from 2020.

McLaren will build 106 examples of the 1,035bhp Speedtail which it says is capable of 403kph (250mph) and can hit 300kph (186mph) from a standing start in 12.8 seconds.

However McLaren Group CEO Zak Brown said last week the team is “highly unlikely” to have a car ready for the WEC’s planned new GT-orientated rules for its 2020-21 season.

“I don’t think we would be ready for the first year of the new championship,” said Brown.

“It is under review. The rules are not finalised, we have a good sense of what they are, we’ve been very engaged. We have a working group inside McLaren that are not on our Formula 1 activities reviewing it.

“I believe the rules are going to be put in place at the end of the year, and then we’ll be in a position to take a decision if we’re going to enter and when we would enter. But highly unlikely it would be for the start of the 2020 calendar.”

The Speedtail shares the distinctive three-seat layout used by the team in its famed McLaren F1 road car. It carries a price tag of £1.75 million.

McLaren Speedtail

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31 comments on “400kph McLaren Speedtail hypercar revealed but team not planning 2020 WEC entry”

  1. It’s very optimised for pure straight line speed, with minimal aero detail. That behind though!

    1. I like the sleek, more minimalistic design as well – a bit of a contrast to a plethora of overdesigned current super/hypercars @lems

  2. Reminds me of an XJ220… here’s hoping its performance is better than its appearance.

    1. Same first thought of XJ220!

  3. What a beautiful car.

    1. I know that taste is personal, but this car is heinous, just like the defunct GM EV-1 from the 90’s. McLaren spiral fall towards the bottom continues. Now in the superuglycar department. What are they smoking over there?

      1. Taste is personal, and you have none.

    2. mmmm, kind of tail-heavy, don’t like it much.
      Will spend muy spare 1.75M somewhere else

  4. It has turbofans on the front, spoked wheels on the back. Unnghhh. I have to go lie down now before I start seeing this with Silk Cut livery and have a Group C nostalgia attack.

  5. Michal J Kalinowski
    26th October 2018, 17:46

    UGLY.

  6. Striking but ugly. Some lovely features but for me they just do not blend together. I won’t be ordering one lol.

  7. Out of interest, do McLaren manufacture there own engines for there road cars?

    1. Yes, they do.

  8. Don’t fancy this one.

  9. Don’t quite like the way it looks. It seems rather disproportional, but does seem functional (designed for top speed and minimal drag), which I like. I also don’t appreciate the 3-seater layout. That was something unique to the F1 and they should leave it like that, instead of replicating it.

  10. The passenger seats are juuuust far enough back that they can’t change the radio station!

  11. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
    26th October 2018, 19:18

    If McLaren made an XJ220, but the year was 2018 and the car all electric…

    1. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      26th October 2018, 19:20

      I should probably read the article instead of just looking at pictures… Based on the near-closed nose, I would’ve sworn this to be electric.

    2. Surprised they chose that color if they weren’t trying to make it look like the XJ220.

    3. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks so. I immediately thought XJ220.

  12. That just plain ugly. Looks like a futuristic design for the 90s, like that EV1, but longer and made by McLaren

  13. Looks nice from the top and from directly behind, but not feeling much love for it from other angles. Pretty ugly and ‘Speedtail’ is a really silly name.

    On the bright side, at least McLaren have finally designed a car with low drag.

  14. The car, great!

    The name: what the heck are they thinking? coming up with dopey like that just leaves me wondering about the people making the big decisions at McLaren.

  15. Love how the LCD screen side ‘mirrors’ are obscured by the wrap-around dash. But a car with this speed and cost, the screen mirrors would more likely be used for high speed selfie setup.

    Look forward to Jay’s definitive F1 comparo. Wonder if the Grand Tour have a pre-order. Hamster could test the 0-300 claim, and the flippin’ 300 to 0 time.

  16. This is objectively a fantastically beautiful machine. Commiserations to those lacking in the taste needed to appreciate it.

  17. Who’s going to be the one to tell them they have the ass on backwards?

  18. The love-child of the XJ220 and the McLaren F1.

  19. This is one ugly car.

  20. Buying a McLaren would be like buying a Williams or Toro Rosso supercar.

  21. Clearly the design never went next or near an Itallian.

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