BEST OF BRITISH: 10 cool things about the McLaren 570GT

Although McLaren Automotive was founded in 1963 by New Zealand race ace Bruce McLaren, it's only really just restarted its road-car building operations.

It's true the British car maker built 106 versions of the almost-priceless McLaren F1 from 1992, then dipped a toe in the water with the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren from 2003. But it took almost two decades for McLaren to get back in the game with the 12C in 2011.

Fast forward five years and the company will build around 3000 vehicles in 2016, and will increase this number substantially in the coming years with the advent of vehicles such as this one, the 570GT.

A more affordable vehicle than the sold-out P1 monster and the ballistic 650S, the McLaren 570GT costs $408,600, delivers blistering performance from its 419kW turbo V8 engine and still has a level of civility thanks to softer suspension and lots of creature comforts.

Arguably the coolest feature of the 570GT is the opening rear hatch, allowing for the stowage of more luggage. So yes, you can take your car on a cross-continental sojourn now. Unless you live in Australia, where such an expedition will result in a submerged car.

And after seeing the boys and girls within the McLaren factory building the car, it's pretty special to have a poke around, have a chin-wag with its designer Rob Melville, and then come up with our 10 favourite things about the car.

But enough text, we know you only visit to see the video, so enjoy!

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