When you’re the senior designer of an automaker specialized in supercars, you know your job comes with a lot of quirks. Take Alex Alexiev for example, who managed to take the Speedtail out of the McLaren headquarters in Woking.
Alex even jokes about the feat on Instagram, claiming that he had achieved a maximum velocity of half a mile per hour. But on the other hand, someone had a camera rolling, filming the hypercar moving under its own power.
Upon revealing the Speedtail, McLaren didn’t mention anything of interest about the hybrid powertrain except for maximum output (1,050 PS or 1,036 horsepower). Now that we know how the car sounds, it’s safe to assume that internal combustion comes courtesy of the twin-turbo V8 found in the 720S supercar and limited-edition Senna.
Codenamed M840T, the engine is developed in collaboration with Ricardo plc. The design is based on the Nissan VRH architecture, which the Japanese automaker developed for racing purposes. Better still, the flat-plane crankshaft ensures an intoxicating sound as the revs build up.
From the video, we’re also delighted to see the aero-wheel covers doing their job, remaining stationary as the wheels turn. Even the McLaren logo in the center cap stays still, mirroring the mechanism of the Double R from Rolls-Royce.
Priced at £1.75 million plus taxes, the Speedtail is the fastest McLaren ever, topping at 403 km/h (250 mph) thanks to the ridiculous length (5,137 millimeters) and aerodynamic trickery such as the pop-out cameras that send video feed to two monitors. It’s also light, tipping the scale at 1,430 kilograms (3,153 pounds).
As a nod to the McLaren F1 from the 1990s, McLaren will build 106 examples with utmost attention to detail. Does it even come as a surprise the entire production run is sold out?
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. Full profile
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