Photo: delicious_auto_works via Instagram
The "never say never to SUVs" mantra seems to apply to any brand these days. After Lamborghini launched the Urus and Ferrari confirmed the Purosangue, it looks like no manufacturer is safe these days.
What about McLaren, then? Other traditional British carmakers have already made the jump, with the Aston Martin DBX being the most obvious example. However, if we're to steer clear of performance-oriented brands, we still have the Bentley Bentayga flying high the luxury flag, joined more recently by the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. There is just no escaping the SUV trend.
For the time being, McLaren is one of the few brands who seem to ignore the current directions of the market, focusing instead on what it does best: high-power supercars with out-of-this-world acceleration and excellent handling. Oh, and some of the sexiest, most exotic designs ever created.
What was that we just heard? It was probably the collective sigh of relief at the thought of McLaren not launching an SUV, and we totally get it. Some companies are better left untainted, and McLaren definitely qualifies as one of them.
Still, no harm could come from imagining such a beast, right? It would probably be pretty bad anyway since the smooth lines and the squashed silhouette of current McLaren designs couldn't possibly be translated into the high-riding shape of an off-roader. It just wouldn't make any sense.
Except it makes perfect sense. Granted, this McLaren SUV is more of a Baja-style vehicle than a rock-crawler - something meant to glide over rough terrain at high speeds rather than tackling it in low gear. Plus, unlike other similar vehicles, it keeps its two-seat (it could be a 2+2, hard to tell for sure), mid-engine layout, making it a one-of-a-kind proposition in the segment.
It would also add four-wheel-drive to the tremendous McLaren powertrain that already eats other performance cars for breakfast in drag races. It would be easy to imagine that adding AWD takes the McLaren to the next level, but the reality is that all that extra weight would probably cancel any potential advantage. Besides, if AWD was the key, McLaren would already be using it for its current crop of supercars.
The real shocker about this fictional McLaren SUV, however, is just how well the brand's design philosophy can be fused over a type of vehicle that would appear to be its exact opposite. There is not one bad angle - actually, a better description would be "it looks great from every angle". We don't really get to see much of its rear, so there's always the possibility that that's where its Achille's heel is, but judging from what we can see, this thing would undoubtedly have plenty of commercial success.
It would be amiss of us not to mention the author's short teasing campaign. Two days before publishing the actual project, they posted a few shots of the vehicle wearing the usual black and white camouflage both in low-light studio-like conditions as well as a set of presumed spy photos during a testing session. Nothing much but we thought it was a nice touch worth mentioning.
For the time being, McLaren is one of the few brands who seem to ignore the current directions of the market, focusing instead on what it does best: high-power supercars with out-of-this-world acceleration and excellent handling. Oh, and some of the sexiest, most exotic designs ever created.
What was that we just heard? It was probably the collective sigh of relief at the thought of McLaren not launching an SUV, and we totally get it. Some companies are better left untainted, and McLaren definitely qualifies as one of them.
Still, no harm could come from imagining such a beast, right? It would probably be pretty bad anyway since the smooth lines and the squashed silhouette of current McLaren designs couldn't possibly be translated into the high-riding shape of an off-roader. It just wouldn't make any sense.
Except it makes perfect sense. Granted, this McLaren SUV is more of a Baja-style vehicle than a rock-crawler - something meant to glide over rough terrain at high speeds rather than tackling it in low gear. Plus, unlike other similar vehicles, it keeps its two-seat (it could be a 2+2, hard to tell for sure), mid-engine layout, making it a one-of-a-kind proposition in the segment.
It would also add four-wheel-drive to the tremendous McLaren powertrain that already eats other performance cars for breakfast in drag races. It would be easy to imagine that adding AWD takes the McLaren to the next level, but the reality is that all that extra weight would probably cancel any potential advantage. Besides, if AWD was the key, McLaren would already be using it for its current crop of supercars.
The real shocker about this fictional McLaren SUV, however, is just how well the brand's design philosophy can be fused over a type of vehicle that would appear to be its exact opposite. There is not one bad angle - actually, a better description would be "it looks great from every angle". We don't really get to see much of its rear, so there's always the possibility that that's where its Achille's heel is, but judging from what we can see, this thing would undoubtedly have plenty of commercial success.
It would be amiss of us not to mention the author's short teasing campaign. Two days before publishing the actual project, they posted a few shots of the vehicle wearing the usual black and white camouflage both in low-light studio-like conditions as well as a set of presumed spy photos during a testing session. Nothing much but we thought it was a nice touch worth mentioning.
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