McLaren Teases the W1, Its Next Supercar

Now that the tires are suitably cold on the 12-year-old McLaren P1, a car that still resonates in the performance world, McLaren is on the cusp of releasing the third model in its Ultimate Series lineup. The company is touting the W1, a 1200-horsepower plug-in hybrid that McLaren will begin showing to customers this weekend. Here’s a teaser video released by the company, and here’s a video about the history of the “1” cars.

To recap, the McLaren P1 supercar featured a 217-mph top speed; 664 lb-ft of torque; 903 horsepower; 0–60 mph in 2.7 seconds. All this from a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 with a single-motor hybrid system (thrifty!) and a seven-speed “Seamless Shift” dual-clutch gearbox. The P1 was first shown as a concept on the 20th anniversary of its predecessor’s introduction, the now-30-year-old F1, at the 2012 Paris auto show.

The McLaren W1 will up the ante on the P1, says Automotive News. The W1 will “succeed the iconic McLaren P1 at the top of the brand’s Ultimate Series lineup. A person with knowledge of the Formula 1-inspired two-seater described it as a ‘melding’ of the P1 and the McLaren Senna. McLaren will reveal the hypercar, codenamed P18, to customers ahead of an October 6 public debut.” No performance specs are available, but with 1200 horses, we could be looking at sub-two-second 0-to-60 mph times.

“The new model is powered by a McLaren-designed V-8 engine paired with a hybrid system that is about 70 percent lighter than the current generation,” says Automotive News. “The engine is not a derivative of the McLaren Artura’s hybrid V-6 or the V-8 from the 750S, but rather a ‘new ground-up design,’ a retailer said. ‘That is a really exciting powertrain that we will use as a fundamental technology as we go forward into the future,’ McLaren sales and marketing chief George Biggs said in August.”

That teaser video promises some sort of video debut for the W1 on October 6 at 8 a.m. ET. That’s the date when, 50 years ago, McLaren won the Constructors’ award in Formula 1 racing, which included points from co-drivers Emerson Fittipaldi, Denny Hulme, and Mike Hailwood. Fittipaldi just beat out Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni in the U.S. Grand Prix to secure the Drivers’ title by three points.

Currently, McLaren Mercedes is first in the Formula 1 Constructor’s standing.