McLaren Senna GTR LM commissions

Celebrating McLaren’s dominance at Le Mans in 1995, when five of its race cars finished the race in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 13th, the manufacturer has revealed five customer commissioned Senna GTR LMs paying homage to the F1s, each with a unique hand-painted livery that took over 800 hours of painstaking craftsmanship to complete from the Ueno Clinic car, on to the Harrods, Gulf, Jacadi and the Cesar car.

Interestingly, to truly replicate the liveries, special permission had to be granted by brand owners such as Gulf and Harrods and by Le Mans organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), to recreate logos and trademarks. The roof of each car even features an authentically recreated scrutineering sticker, which is the only piece of vinyl in the livery.

The five Sennas each have a dedication plaque on the inner surface of the carbon fibre tub denoting each car’s one-off status and its original F1 GTR chassis number identifier. Each car also wears an etched dedication to its Le Mans ‘twin’, including the date of the race, the names of the three race drivers in that car and the position in which they finished.

Inside, the GTR LMs feature a racing steering wheel with anodised gold gear shift paddles and control buttons (in tribute to the McLaren F1’s gold-coloured gear linkage); titanium nitride pedals with LM logos; leather door-pull straps and lightweight carbon fibre racing seats complemented by bespoke headrest embroidery and an MSO six-point racing harness coloured black with body-colour pads.

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McLaren Senna Ride-On Toy

This is the third car in McLaren’s range of cars for those a little too young to get behind the wheel of a McLaren road car. The Senna ‘Ride-On’ children’s model is a track focussed electrified model and is available in five authentic McLaren colours: black, white, Mira orange, Vega blue and Memphis red.

Yes you have counted correctly, there are only five colours listed there as the sixth colour is a special one: yellow with green accents mimicking Ayrton Senna’s helmet is exclusive to McLaren retailers.

It may not be on the same level as the Bugatti Baby II we reported on a few weeks ago but in truth it is aimed at three to six year olds and is considerably cheaper, coming in at £375.

The McLaren Senna ‘Ride-On’ features all the functions of last year’s 720S model, including working dihedral doors to allow easy access. Inside, there is an authentic push-button start which activates McLaren Senna engine sounds and the young drivers are able to play music via an infotainment system that can access files from a USB device or SD card and the Senna also includes a working brake with brake light.

McLaren commemorates 25 years since F1 Le Mans win with special edition

25 years ago McLaren celebrated one of its greatest motorsport achievements – winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its first attempt. June 18, 1995 saw McLaren F1 GTR #59, driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya take the chequered flag with three other F1 finishing in the top 5.

To commemorate such an achievement, the Woking manufacturer has revealed a special edition model aptly named the McLaren 720S Le Mans. Only 50 are to be produced with 16 to find a home in Europe.

Each of the 50 Le Mans edition cars will carry a dedication plate featuring a ‘McLaren 25 Anniversary Le Mans’ logo and each chassis number will start with ‘298’, a nice little touch reminding the owners that in 1995, the F1 GTR completed 298 laps, one more that its closest rival.

New owners will get a choice two colours, McLaren Orange or Sarthe Grey, fitted with the stunning 5-spoke LM wheels, some added carbon here and there, gold-coloured brake callipers and a functional roof scoop!

Inside, owners can choose between black Alcantara with McLaren Orange accents or Dove Grey accents, carbon fibre racing seats, a 12 o’clock marker on the steering wheel, a couple of commemorative plates and to remind you what you are driving floor mats and embroidered headrests with the McLaren 25 anniversary Le Mans’ logo.

As always customers can always take their limited editions and give it the MSO treatment where a lot more carbon fibre inside and out can be ticked as well as a titanium harness bar and 6-point harnesses to further enhance the motorsport theme.

The cost for the pleasure of owning one these limited cars? The 720S Le Mans starts at £254,500 with deliveries due to start in September.

Re-imagined F1 cars

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Andries van Overbeeke, a Dutch designer has re-imagined what the modern-day F1 car should look like. Adding a closed cockpit, it completely transforms the style of the race car.
The incident between two ex-team mates, Kimi Raikonnen and Fernando Alonso, at the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday, caused talk about closed cockpits to resurface. Structural integrity will change where the need for a roll bar will become irrelevant and protection of the hands and head will be more apparent with a closed structure.
Andries has picked McLaren as his test mule with a retro McLaren Honda livery and an all-black version which is reminiscent of the VW Passats racing in this year’s BTCC.

 



 

 

 

 

Geneva 2015: What to expect?

The time of year has come around for all petrol heads. Much like Christmas for a child, the 85th edition of the Geneva Motor show is ten days of motoring goodness. Here are a number of the hotly anticipated cars expected to make an appearance at the show on 5th -15th March.

Abarth:

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Abarth 659 Biposto and a number of updates to the 500 range and new kits and accessories.

Alfa Romeo:

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The Alfa 4C gets the wind in your hair treatment with a Spider version. With its new look, both models get a new voice box in the shape of an Akrapovic exhaust system.

Aston Martin:

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Vulcan is Aston Martin’s new track weapon. Fitted with a hearty 7.0Litre V12 pushing over 800bhp to the rear wheels and limited to 24 examples.  Expect these beasts to be sold out before even catching a glimpse of them in the metal.

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Another racer for Aston, the Vantage GT3 Special Edition, is a road and track car limited to 100 examples, heavily inspired by the marque’s success in Motorsport. The GT3 has clearly been on a diet, losing 100kg over the V12 Vantage S thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre in and around the car.

Audi:

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The supercar which promised to take on the Italians at their own game is back with an update. The R8 gets updated looks, loses some weight (50kg) over its predecessor capable of hitting 62mph in 3.2sec and topping out at 205mph. The V10 engine comes in two guises, standard packing 533bhp and the V10 Plus with 602bhp.

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Making its official appearance to the public is the RS3 Sportback, to be hitting the roads by Summer 2015. Deemed the most powerful five cylinder engine ever produced by Audi RS with 362bhp and 465Nm to play with, it is a good thing it is fitted with Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system.

BMW:

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BMW have updated a few of its models including the 1-Series and the 6-series but what everyone wants to see is the M4 MotoGP safety car.

Bugatti:

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Veyron La Finale is the very last one to roll off the factory line. Already sold to a lucky chap in the Middle East  this vast array of numbers wasn’t something people were used to when it was first introduced back in 2004. But now, let’s see the successor.

Ferrari:

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Turbocharging has made a comeback to the ‘Cavellino.’ The 488GTB can be said to be the successor to the F40, the last turbocharged mid-engined Ferrari and a replacement to the fantastic 458 Italia. 661bhp and 760Nm are created by the 3.9Litre Turbo V8 able to hit 125mph in 8.3 seconds.

Ford:

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The much-anticipated Focus RS is the 30th incarnation to wear the RS badge. Fitted with all-wheel drive and torque vectoring will help the driver push the 316bhp to its limits. Ken Block, driver of the legendary Gymkhana series was a consultant during the development of the RS.

All-New Ford GT

50 years after Ford’s GT40 took all three spots on the podium at the 1966 24Hours of Le Mans, Ford have revealed the new GT powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5Litre EcoBoost V6 said to give the car the one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car.

Honda:

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Honda are back in F1 with an engine partnership with McLaren F1 and an icon has been reinvented. The NSX is making its rounds 25 years after the original was first premiered. A twin-turbocharged V6 which is a nod back to the original is fitted with a nine-speed DCT box.

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The Civic Type R is getting its debut fitted with a 2.0Litre VTEC Turbo engine allowing drivers to hit a top speed over 160mph. To help drivers deal with the level of speed, the Type R has been fitted with 350mm drilled Brembo brakes up front.

Koenigsegg:

The Swedish company has managed to keep it all very hush-hush in terms of leaks of new cars. A teased sketch of the rear of potentially the Agera RS and supposedly Koenigsegg is bringing another hypercar to Geneva hopefully to take on the three hybrid hypercars from the likes of Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari.

Lamborghini:

Again very little has been given away by Lamborghini, spy shots of what looked like an Aventador SV have  been seen across the internet but all details are being kept close to heart before the official reveal however their teaser video promises to reveal the most ‘reactive’ Lamborghini yet.

Land Rover:

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The stunning Land Rover Evoque gets some cosmetic surgery up front (not that it was ugly in the first place) and gains Jaguar-Land Rover’s new Ingenium engines promising up to 68mpg and under 110g/km of CO2.

Lotus:

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£70,000 worth of Lotus will be officially unveiled at Geneva, 16% more powerful, 22kg lighter and 400bhp gives you the new Lotus Evora 400.

McLaren:

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The Longtail is back. The Mclaren 675LT focusses on less weight and more power.It will shoot to 62mph in 2.9secs. McLaren will make five ‘Hero’ specification Longtails  which consist of never offered colours Silica White, Delta Red, Napier Green and Chicane Grey. The McLaren Orange completes the set.

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Some individuals don’t in the saying that enough is enough. A few of those people clearly work at McLaren as they have taken the insanely quick P1 and upped the power to make the P1GTR. 986bhp, 50kg lighter, wider and lower than the standard P1 and some serious spoilers creating 10% more downforce are all the ingredients to make this GTR.

Mercedes:

Three noteworthy models are being launched by Mercedes. We have reworks of two classics and a GT3 racer.

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Maybach is back as a sub-brand and the first model is the remake of the classic S600 Pullman, 50 years on. At a length of 6.5 metres expect to have a driver to wait with the car as prices start around €500,000 for the unarmored version. I doubt it will be a slouch if it needs to get out of any hairy situations as it is fitted with a V12 biturbo with 830Nm available from as low as 1900RPM.

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If off-roading is more your thing, the G-wagen is the one for you. Elements of the 6×6 have been fitted to the G to create the G500 4×4 squared.  New powerful engines, wider track and higher ground clearance (450mm) promises to tackle nearly any environment you throw at it.

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The GT3 race series is about to get a little more interesting, Mercedes are to launch the AMG GT3 race car. Even though the road car is fitted with a 4.4 biturbo V8, the GT3 will use a fettled example of the naturally aspirated 6.2 V8 from the SLS AMG GT.

Porsche:

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A manual hardcore Cayman is coming. The Cayman GT4 is built with components from the 911 GT3, perfect for racing and with an engine derived from the 911 Carrera S, it is good for 380bhp helping position it as a benchmark.

The second model is a secret but quoted ‘is another exceptional Porsche that sets new standards on the racetrack.’ Could it be the 911 GT3 RS?

Vauxhall:

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A hot hatch that is set to attack Ford’s Fiesta ST sales. The Vauxhall Corsa VXR   is fitted with a 1.6Litre turbo charged petrol engine pumping out 202bhp and up to 280Nm of torque to the front wheels. The VXR averages 245Nm from revs as low as 1,900rpm, which is a significant change from the outgoing car.

McLaren-Honda reveal MP4-30 F1 car

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McLaren in partnership with Honda have just released their new F1 car for the 2015 season. Dubbed the MP4-30, the British outfit are looking at returning to their winning days with new pairing Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. The MP4-30 is fitted with Honda’s 1.6Litre V6 turbocharged engine.

Honda and McLaren were in a business relationship back in the Senna era between 1988 and 1992 clocking up eight World Championships, 44 Grand Prix wins, 53 pole positions and over 30 recorded fastest laps.

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Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 dates announced

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Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Revival meeting in 2015 have been confirmed. The Festival of Speed will take place on 25 -28th June 2015 with the moving motor show opening the festival on the 25th. The overall theme for this year’s festival will be, “Fast and Fearless: Racing on the Edge.”

The festival will also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Honda’s first Grand Prix victory with them returning to Formula 1 providing engines to McLaren in 2015.

Expect great McLaren F1 cars running the Honda engines up the hill in their stunning Malboro livery.

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2015 is also the year marking the 60th anniversary of Sir Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s victory at the 1955 Mille Miglia in their Mercedes 300 SLR.

The Goodwood Revival is the event of the year for vintage racing and culture. Guests turn up in their best period outfits and enjoy great scenes of racing from yesteryear. This year the Revival will happen on September 11-13th if there are no clashes with the 2015 F1 race calendar.

The festival of Speed is not the only one honoring racing legends; the Revival will be honouring the 40th anniversary of Derek bell’s first of five LeMans 24 hours wins along with the legendary Bruce McLaren who was a race driver, engineer and race car constructor.

Tickets for both are already on sale here.

If you want to catch a glimpse at what we saw at the festival last year check it out here.