McLaren Speedtail coming to Oz

McLaren has confirmed at least one lucky Australian buyer has snagged the keys (or key fob) to the $3.2 million McLaren Speedster due to reach showrooms from 2020.

The new 400km/h hyper GT is limited to only 106 examples globally, and is set to take inspiration from the legendary F1 by employing a three-seat layout and central driving position.

The newcomer will in fact beat the F1’s then record-breaking 391km/h top speed, with a claimed 403km/h peak.

“We’ll see that car in early 2020. It’s part of our ultimate series but we’re referring to it as a hyper GT,” said McLaren’s global marketing boss Jamie Corstorphine.

McLaren minders later confirmed to carsales.com.au that at least one Speedtail is headed for Australia as part of the sought-after, sold-out global allotment.

The numbers that we do know about the McLaren Speedtail are formidable. It’s powered by a petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain that delivers a frankly insane 772kW (that’s 1050 metric horsepower, for reference).

It motivates a car made largely from both titanium deposition and thin-ply carbon-fibre, meaning the whole thing clocks 1430kg in total, dry weight.

With a 540kW/tonne weight-to-power ratio, that results in the jaw-dropping 0-300km/h figure of 12.8 seconds, utterly demolishing the P1’s equivalent stat of 16.5 seconds, and – as we’ve already said – the Speedtail will go beyond 400km/h.

Each one will cost £1.75 million plus local taxes, which (on a straight currency conversion) is $A3.2m before import duty and on-road costs. In fact, luxury car tax will amount to $960,000 on its own!

Where a McLAren 720S is 4543mm from tip to tail, the dramatic Speedtail is much longer – it’s just shy of a whopping 5200mm overall, much of this made up by the very feature that gives it its name.

The long, tapering rear of the Speedtail is its party piece. Not only is the distinctive engine cover area topped with the biggest carbon-fibre panel McLaren has ever made, but it features a pair of ailerons inspired by NASA.

The pair of small flaps fold upwards to create downforce on the rear, without the need for great towering spoilers like those on the McLaren Senna.

McLaren has a patent out on these little beauties, by the way, to make it the first manufacturer to feature such an obvious aviation-inspired device.

Quite a lot more of the Speedtail’s make-up makes it feel more like a land-based fighter jet than a hyper-GT.

The cockpit-esque glasshouse is all encompassing above the three-seat passenger compartment, with very little in the way of structural beams keeping it in place.

This floods the cabin with light, but if you’re worrying about glare, fear not; chromatic strips and LEDs embedded in the glass allow for portions of the surface to be darkened, meaning there is no need for sun visors within.

The driver, who sits centrally, has three screens arrayed in front of them – the centre one reading speed, tyre pressures/temps and engine revs, the left displaying navigation and climate functions, and the right controlling phone and media menus.

Secondary switches, for the lights and so on, are hidden lower down beneath the wheel, while the engine start/stop switch, the button-pad gear selectors and drive mode selector (there are just two modes, Comfort and Sport) are all mounted just above and in front of the driver’s head.

There’s also an enigmatic blue button up there marked VELOCITY, about which McLaren will let us know more in due course.

Even the two rear seats look amazing, because they are moulded into the carbon MonoCell itself, to provide as much passenger room as possible.

All three chairs are covered in Aniline leather with areas of the material covered in low-slip, high-friction surfaces, to better hold the car’s occupants in place, and storage is taken care of by two gloveboxes (one on either side of the dash).

There’s further lockable storage under each passenger seat and a pair of trunks – one at the front and one at the back – which’ll take more than 160 litres of tailored, bespoke luggage between them.