Anything Ferrari can do, McLaren can do better. At least that’s what the boys in Woking seem to believe. After all, McLaren has trounced Ferrari around the Formula One circuit for the past several years now. But while the British team has followed its Italian rival from grand prix racing into building supercars with the McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and (most recently) the MP4-12C, one thing Ferrari does that McLaren doesn’t is grand tourers. And with the advent of the FF, shooting brakes. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: McLaren MP4-12C Spyder caught on camera with its top down
If you’re going to make a mid-engined supercar, you’ve got to make a roadster version. You simply have to, and that’s all there is to it. Ferrari does with the 458 Spider, just as it did with the F430, 360, 355 and 348 before it. Lamborghini does with the Gallardo. Audi does with the R8. And soon McLaren will with the MP4-12C. We know it will – it’s just a matter of time. And now it appears that time is coming up soon. Funk Flex
(Video) Auto Talk: McLaren releases montage of MP4-12C lapping ‘Ring in 7 min, 28 sec
It’s finally happened. The good people at McLaren have taken their latest wonder child, the MP4-12C, out for a bit of abuse around the Nürburgring to see how the supercar would perform on one of the world’s greatest road courses. With Horst von Saurma-Jeltsch, Editor In Chief of Sport Auto, behind the wheel, the Mclaren MP4-12C was able to clip around the ‘Ring in seven minutes and 28 seconds. That puts the carbon-fiber creation just ahead of vehicles like the Porsche 911 GT3 and Pagani Zonda F and four seconds behind metal like the Gumpert Apollo Sport. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: McLaren F1 successor begins testing
With the MP4-12C hitting a rapidly expanding chain of dealerships around the world, McLaren Automotive is moving on to its next project: developing a successor to the iconic McLaren F1. In fact, reports from the UK indicate that testing of the first prototypes is already underway in locations like Spain, Bahrain and Germany. Funk Flex
