McLaren’s on-again, off-again four-door model has received the green light for production, according to an unverified report. The company is also allegedly working on a new flagship model that will take the torch from the long-retired P1 and get Formula One-derived technology.
Citing anonymous dealer sources, industry trade journal Automotive News wrote that the first four-door McLaren model will make its debut by the end of the 2020s. “[McLaren will] bring in another class of automobile in 2028. Stay tuned. It may have four doors and four seats,” Jamie Corstorphine, the British company’s director of product strategy, reportedly told dealers who attended a preview of future cars.
We’ve heard rumors detailing a McLaren SUV time and again, but four doors doesn’t necessarily confirm that an alternative to the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus is in the pipeline. The family-friendly model could take the form of a sedan, though that’s less likely given the current disinterest in that body style — especially at this price point. McLaren could follow Ferrari’s lead and launch a four-door model that straddles two or more segments. Unveiled in 2022, the hot-selling Purosangue blurs the line separating SUVs and station wagons.
Regardless of body style and positioning, McLaren will develop the four-door model in-house. “They’re not going to partner with any other manufacturer to build that car,” a dealer told Automotive News. Details such as the platform and the engine it will use haven’t been released.
The same sources claim that the top rung in the McLaren hierarchy will soon be occupied by a V8-electric supercar designed as part of the Ultimate Series family of models. Development work is ongoing, but dealers who attended the meeting said the yet-unnamed model will use a hybrid system built around a new V8 engine developed in-house. It will be approximately 70% lighter than the hybrid system that McLaren puts in some of its current cars, and it “produces much more horsepower and delivers the power more directly to the transmission.”
Formula One technology will trickle down to the flagship. Sources familiar with the project list a carbon-fiber monocoque with integrated seatbacks, 3D-printed parts in the suspension system, and F1-like aerodynamic technology as some of the car’s features. This approach to design should save weight, improve performance, and allow the firm to link its road cars to its F1 cars.
McLaren hasn’t commented on the report, and it hasn’t detailed how it will expand its lineup. If the rumor is accurate, the flagship will make its debut “around 2026.” In the meantime, the 750S (pictured) unveiled a few days ago will reach showrooms in the coming months. It will remain in production for three years. Its successor, a hybrid, is tentatively scheduled to make its debut in 2026, according to the report.
