McLaren has confirmed that its most hard-core road car yet will be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in two weeks' time. The famously sybaritic California classic car event is increasingly being seen as a lucrative spot in which to launch high-end new cars, and they don't come much more high end than this.
The P1 GTR is named after the endurance racing version of McLaren's original road car, the F1. In June 1995, the F1 GTR became the first car to win Le Mans at its first attempt since Ferrari managed the same trick in the 1950s. Exactly 20 years on, in June 2015, the P1 GTR will go into production.
Based on the 900hp P1, the GTR will see the 3.8-litre V8 turbo hybrid powertrain taken past the 1,000hp mark while the body ditches the fully active, adjustable rear wing in favour of a massive, but light, fixed item.
The price is yet to be discussed but change from €1 million will be thin on the ground and you’ll have to already own an existing P1 to even be considered for ownership of a GTR.
Owners will also have access to the McLaren Grand Prix team’s retinue of driving and fitness trainers.
In a more luxurious mould, Aston Martin is also dipping into its heritage to find a name for a new model. It's reviving the classic Lagonda nameplate, last used in the 1970s, for a new saloon which pays styling heritage to that iconic, wedge-shaped William Towns-styled Seventies four- door.
The new Lagonda will be based on the same VH carbon-fibre and aluminium platform that currently underpins all Aston Martins and will use the familiar 5.9-litre V12 engine.
As with the McLaren, sales will be by invitation only and, following in the footsteps of the seventies Lagonda, this one will be offered exclusively to buyers based in the Middle East.
The original, which flopped sales-wise in Europe and the US, always seemed to find a happy home in the Gulf.
It’s expected that this revival of the Lagonda name is in part to get us ready for a new SUV model, based on a Mercedes chassis, that Aston is readying for sale in 2018.
