Photo: McLaren
McLaren is retiring the famous butterfly opening of the doors. The brand's upcoming halo supercar, scheduled to be ready later this year, is expected to go for something else.
Pop those doors open, and you get people staring. There is no way you can keep a low profile when you get in and out of a McLaren at the gas station, in the driveway of a luxury hotel, or in front of a designer store, for instance. They spring upwards like the wings of a butterfly, swiveling on hinges and causing quite a commotion around.
Now, that will all be history because McLaren has chosen another opening technique for its upcoming Formula 1-inspired McLaren halo car. But don't you go thinking the British supercar manufacturer is going to fly under the radar with it because the butterfly doors will reportedly be replaced by something just as spectacular.
The future McLaren P18, designed to be the P1's successor, will be the first McLaren with gullwing doors, the kind we (not we, but our grandparents) first saw in the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. But that was almost seven decades ago, and the technology was different.
Now, the doors of the upcoming P18 will reportedly be attached to a newly developed carbon fiber chassis, as reported by Automotive News. The butterfly doors are hinged on the A-pillar, but the gullwing doors will be linked to the roof.
The model should get the Artura- and 750S-style LED DRLs and a retractable spoiler at the opposite end for the necessary downforce.
The McLaren P18 is expected to be powered by a hybrid powertrain, set to integrate a V8 engine and an electric motor. We will find out the exact performance figures toward the launch date.
However, we should expect more than 1,000 horsepower from the future McLaren. The P18 should battle the upcoming Porsche hypercar and the successor of LaFerrari, while the Mercedes-AMG One is already waiting for them to join the exclusive segment. The future McLaren halo car is going to accept the call toward the end of 2024.
For instance, the Tesla Model X crossover has the rear doors with the same opening system, but the EV manufacturer calls them "falcon wings." They are actually double-hinged, and the driver can adapt to the available parking space.
Aston Martin chose the same solution for its Valkyrie coupe, which went into production in November 2021 in a run of only 25 units.
Now, that will all be history because McLaren has chosen another opening technique for its upcoming Formula 1-inspired McLaren halo car. But don't you go thinking the British supercar manufacturer is going to fly under the radar with it because the butterfly doors will reportedly be replaced by something just as spectacular.
The future McLaren P18, designed to be the P1's successor, will be the first McLaren with gullwing doors, the kind we (not we, but our grandparents) first saw in the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. But that was almost seven decades ago, and the technology was different.
Now, the doors of the upcoming P18 will reportedly be attached to a newly developed carbon fiber chassis, as reported by Automotive News. The butterfly doors are hinged on the A-pillar, but the gullwing doors will be linked to the roof.
The model should get the Artura- and 750S-style LED DRLs and a retractable spoiler at the opposite end for the necessary downforce.
The McLaren P18 is expected to be powered by a hybrid powertrain, set to integrate a V8 engine and an electric motor. We will find out the exact performance figures toward the launch date.
However, we should expect more than 1,000 horsepower from the future McLaren. The P18 should battle the upcoming Porsche hypercar and the successor of LaFerrari, while the Mercedes-AMG One is already waiting for them to join the exclusive segment. The future McLaren halo car is going to accept the call toward the end of 2024.
Other models currently in production sporting gullwing doors
The successor of the McLaren P1 will not be the first car of the modern era to sport gullwing doors after the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL started it back in the mid-1950s and the DeLorean DMC-12 took it to stardom level with "Back to the Future." Several carmakers brought the "wow" factor to their models by fitting them with such ingress and egress solutions.For instance, the Tesla Model X crossover has the rear doors with the same opening system, but the EV manufacturer calls them "falcon wings." They are actually double-hinged, and the driver can adapt to the available parking space.
Aston Martin chose the same solution for its Valkyrie coupe, which went into production in November 2021 in a run of only 25 units.
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