McLaren teases a Grand Touring model at Geneva
McLaren Automotive announced that a grand touring model will join its lineup, separate from the existing Sports, Super, and Ultimate series of cars. McLaren says it is rewriting the rules and promises a GT that is up to its performance standards. Little is known about the new McLaren, but the company says it will release details in “just a few months.”
By historical classifications, GTs are typically more refined and comfortable than pure sports cars, more suitable for long-distance travel. That comfort comes at the expense of performance as GTs are usually heavier, slower, and don’t handle as sharply as more sporting cars. Think Jaguar XJ-S versus a 1980s Porsche 911 and you get the idea.
In remarks prepared for the Geneva show, McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt promised that the new car will be lightest and best-handling GT on the market, and claimed that it will be the most “usable” mid-engine car yet produced. The company describes the upcoming GT’s exterior styling as “boldy elegant,” and says the interior will be “spacious, uncluttered, and modern,” using premium materials.
“It will be a car that combines competition levels of performance with continent-crossing capability, wrapped in a beautiful lightweight body,” Flewett says. “It’s a car that has been designed for distance and one that will also provide the comfort and space expected of a Grand Tourer, but with a level of agility never experienced before in this segment. In addition, it will be the lightest of Grand Tourers, and by also having the best power-to-weight ratio, I promise it will be one of the quickest. In addition, it will be the only Grand Tourer to share its DNA with the 250-mph McLaren Speedtail.”
The new GT is part of McLaren’s Track25 Business Plan, which was announced last July. That’s a $1.6 billion effort to introduce 18 new models by the end of 2025 with the ultimate goals being a completely hybrid powered lineup, and increased capacity of its Woking assembly plant to 6000 units a year.
Calling the upcoming GT “the McLaren of Grand Tourers,” the company released a photo of a highly camouflaged car, but it did not indicate a name or specifications.
