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McLaren P13 (Sports Series) to Land at 2015 New York Auto Show

Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s so-called black swan theory implies an event coming as a surprise, with a major effect on everyone. We’re curious why McLaren marketing people used Nassim’s theory to hike the hype of the Sports Series / P13 entry-level supercar. Nevertheless, the British outfit is on a bit of a roll.
McLaren P13 / Sports Series prototype 6 photos
Photo: SB-Medien
McLaren P13 / Sports Series prototypeMcLaren P13 / Sports Series prototypeMcLaren P13 / Sports Series prototypeMcLaren P13 / Sports Series prototypeMcLaren P13 / Sports Series prototype
What you see above and in the photo gallery just below is McLaren’s black swan moment. Truth be told, the Woking-based manufacturer has never manufactured competitively priced production car. The F1, MP4-12C, 650S, P1, all of them are a little more expensive than their direct rivals from Ferrari and Lamborghini. In order to escape this limitation, the company will introduce an entry-level supercar.

By entry-level supercar, McLaren is actually saying Porsche 911 Carrera S / Jaguar F-Type R Coupe / Mercedes-AMG GT competitor. As far as we know, the Sports Series (P13) will boast with a 3.8 twin-turbo M838T V8 mounted in the middle, artificially detuned to anything in between 450 and 500 ponies. That’s all nice and jolly, but the upcoming McLaren might have the 911 nicked thanks its carbon fiber chassis and body shell and turbocharged grunt.

If it will cost £120,000 in Britain and €140,000 in the EU, then the 2015 McLaren P13 / Sport Series will be a better sales success story than the MP4-12C. Our only fear is the way it makes you feel. We’ve tested both the coupe and drop-top MP4 and we found out that it’s a bit clinical. It doesn’t get your blood flowing and heart beating as fast as a 458 does. To boot, handling it at city speeds isn't inspiring.

Engineers will really have to work hard in order to make the P13 more engaging than its predecessor

Speaking to McLaren Automotive managing director Mike Flewitt, CNBC found out that the mysterious McLaren P13 / Sports Series will make its live debut next April, at the 2015 New York Auto Show. Mr. Flewitt also suggested the new kid on the block will hold a US sticker of around $180,000.

Although the British automaker and racing outfit plans to sell 2,000 units of the P13 in 2016, the managing director kept cool about future plans and commented “It is slightly higher volume for us, but volume is relative. We'll always be a very exclusive car company... "We're a newcomer in some ways. McLaren is famous for 50 years in motor sports, so we're a company that's built on technology."
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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