The History of McLaren Automotive

In 1937, Bruce McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Fascinated by cars and driving fast, Bruce began building his first race car at the age of 13. His parents owned a service station, and the young boy had access to everything he needed to create a race car. Using an old Austin 7 Ulster, Bruce created a sports car that brought him his first win at a race in New Zealand. He was only 14 years old.

His fascination with engineering the ultimate race car and his enthusiasm to drive them was the start of what is now the McLaren Car Company.

Bruce McLaren moved to England as a very young adult as part of a Driver to Europe program. This program allowed Bruce to compete in European racing. It did not take long for him to quickly move into Formula One racing, and at the age of 22, he won the American Grand Prix. He was the youngest person at that time to ever accomplish that feat.

The Bruce McLaren Racing Team was formed and it went on to develop some of the most amazing race cars the tracks have ever known. Sadly, when Bruce was only 32 years old, he died in a car crash when he was testing his newest car. That car went on to claim 22 out of 23 wins, a real honor for the memory of this amazing race car driver.

McLaren continued on even after the death of Bruce. The race team was able to attract many famous drivers, and the race team continued to win in races all over the world. The McLaren team continued to develop superior cars and launch new innovations that would change the racing world. McLaren quickly became the leading car and team in the racing circuit.

In 1989, McLaren decided that it would create a street-legal sports car for the public. This new race car would be everything that their race cars were in terms of sophistication, agility and speed. To make these cars even more attractive, each car would be hand-built, and production numbers would be limited.

Production Models

In 1992, the very first “street” McLaren was released. Named F1 to honor their root in racing, this vehicle was the fastest production car on the market. Unofficially, the car registered in at 241 mph. The F1 had a BMW engine and had the ability to seat three people.
The F1 was completely handmade and cost over $1 million. Over the first five years of production, only 100 of these cars were made. Several models of the F1 were released, with some of the more exotic models having a limited production of only three cars. By 1999, McLaren was ready to release its next car.

The F7 was released in 1999 and was a collaboration with Daimler Chrysler. The F7 was rated as another supercar by the auto industry and was received well by those who love style and speed. The car was officially ranked as being able to do the quarter mile in 3.7 seconds, making it the fastest car at that time.

The F7 had many models issued, including a convertible. The convertible only ran for two years, and then production was stopped. Some people stated that McLaren was never pleased with the convertibles because of all the added weight that the mechanisms added to the vehicle weight.

It has been rumored that the company is currently designing the new F11 series and that this series would be the fastest production cars ever made. However, information on this new series is not readily available to the public at this time.

Overall, McLaren has released a total of 19 models between their F1 and F7 series of vehicles. Of these 19, 12 are still in production, and seven have been discontinued. All these vehicles are considered supercars and have price tags at the $1 million mark, or higher. Recently, one of the original F1 vehicles sold at auction for over $9 million.

Driving A McLaren Is The Experience Of A Lifetime

McLaren is synonymous with racing. The car maker has built some of the most innovative sports cars ever to reach the tracks. When the car company brought this technology to the production car industry, auto enthusiasts were elated. The thought of getting behind the wheel of one of these cars was a dream come true.

The production car designs were so similar to the Formula One cars that demand for the cars were high right from the start. However, all these cars are hand-crafted, so production levels are very low. Some years have only seen 20 cars produced in the entire year.
With such low production rates and such a high price tag, most people would never get a chance to get behind the wheel of one of these masterpiece vehicles.

That is until Falcon Exotic Car Rental came into the picture. Falcon Exotic Car Rental has one of these fabulous cars available for you to drive. Falcon has a McLaren 675LT available for your driving pleasure.

The McLaren 675LT is one of the newest design models of the F7 series. The vehicle is 200 pounds lighter than other 675 models. This gives the car even more power and a quicker start than other models. It is designed in the Longtail fashion that is an original creation of McLaren Automotive.

The Longtail design stretches out the tail area of the vehicle, which gives it more downward force. The extra length of the car also gives it a sleek look and exotic feel. This Longtail design is used on all of their Formula race cars and is attributed to being one of the most advanced designs in cars for speed.

What The Future Holds For McLaren

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018, McLaren announced that it will launch 18 new models between now and 2025. The car company chose the Goodwood Festival to make this announcement in honor of founder Bruce McLaren, who died on this track in 1970.

The company stated that it will begin to offer hybrid and all electric cars by 2025 in both their sports car and supercar line up. The manufacturer has been aggressively developing this technology to work with their superior performance and speed requirements.

McLaren has also stated that they intend to increase production of their newer vehicles by 75 percent over this time period to 6,000 vehicles per year. For some, this increase in numbers is a blessing, while other enthusiasts fear this will damage the exotic nature of the vehicle when more people are able to access ownership to a McLaren. Only the future will know how this impacts the car company.

Whatever the case is, the face of McLaren is changing to a more futuristic model, which makes driving one of the current models even more relevant than before. Getting behind the power of a gas-powered masterpiece is something that everyone should strive to try at least once in their lifetime.

If you are ready for the thrill of raw speed and ultra-performance, you are encouraged to rent a McLaren from Falcon Luxury Car Rental. This is your opportunity to get behind the wheel of a street legal Formula One race car and enjoy everything that it has to offer.

The McLaren is a unique car to travel on the road. Born from the desire to win a race, the McLaren is the true dream car of any car enthusiast. With a McLaren 675LT from Falcon rental, you are guaranteed to have a blast.