Here’s our first look at the carbonfibre tub of the new McLaren Sports Series, aka the P13 smaller McSupercar to stretch Woking’s range into Porsche 911 territory.
Today McLaren has issued the fourth in a series of images of the P13, the 650S’s smaller brother and we’ve added it to our existing gallery here. We’ve now seen the car in action on the track, with its swan doors up and McLaren has now confirmed the car will be launched at the New York motor show in April 2015.
The V8 will be branded as part of a new Sports Series, Woking has announced. The significance of this? The word ‘series’ confirms the new car will be one of a range of P13 bodystyles, as the company aims to expand from its 1648 sales base in 2014.
A whole family of P13s
We expect a McLaren P13 coupe first, followed by a spider and a lightweight GTS. Our sources confirm that the Sports Series range will be complete by the end of 2016, by which time Woking will be producing 4000 cars a year (if everything goes according to plan). Ron Dennis’s masterplan is starting to come to fruition…
To date, McLaren has started drip-feeding the Sports Series announcement. ‘Scheduled to premiere on the world stage in the second quarter of 2015, McLaren has now confirmed that its latest model, previously referred to only by its internal codename ‘P13’, will be known as the McLaren Sports Series,’ it said. ‘It will join the range below the 650S, bringing McLaren credentials and exclusivity to the sportscar segment for the first time.’
McLaren Sports Series: what we know about P13
The November 2014 issue of CAR magazine had a scoop on the new McLaren P13, illustrated by R Varicak’s artist’s impression (fourth picture in our gallery).
It uses the same carbonfibre MonoCell as the bigger 650S family – and essentially the same 3.8-litre V8, although detuned for its more lowly merely-got-to-beat-a-911-Turbo status.
This is more of a daily driver, and McLaren has consequently made the sills slimmer to ease access, the cabin roomier and there’s more luggage space too.
McLaren P13: Sports Series prices, specs
Remember this car is targeting the Porsche 911 Turbo. We are expecting prices to start at around £130,000, around two-thirds the cost of a McLaren 650S at £195k.
And with a rumoured 500bhp target for that twin-turbo V8, could the McLaren 500S name be on the cards? We wouldn’t bet against it. Find out for sure at an event early in the second quarter of 2015.
Check out more announcements on McLaren’s social media channels. It has launched a new social campaign called Black Swan moments (slightly cringeworthy video below) – so look out for #BlackSwanMoments tweets doing the rounds.
Click here for more on the McLaren 500S.