Mclaren P1 in town

Words by Tim Wong

If you have been paying attention to all the E3 news this week, the Mclaren P1 is at the Forza booth as a display car. I caught the car last week at Newport Beach Mclaren and got a good look at the car up close. The legendary Mclaren F1 has always been one of my favorite cars ever made because of the purity of the car. It was built in such a sensible functional mentality and the fashion is was built cut no corners or cost for that matter. The F1 was a truly unique car with center driving seating position, brilliantly designed aerodynamics that surpasses the Bugatti Veyron, and of course the legendary naturally aspirated BMW V12 engine that set the world’s fastest production car record in 1993. This record wasn’t broken until 2005 by the Bugatti Veyron which had to utilize a quad-turbocharged W16 engine.

Now twenty years later, Mclaren is back with successor to the F1 with the P1. My first impressions of the car when images surfaced online were very unimpressed due to the ridiculous looking LaFerrari and the Lamborghini Veneno. I did find the P1 to be the most elegantly designed of the three.

When I got a close look at the car, the lines of the car are very elegant, but at the same time functional with the form.

The front of the car has these massive vents the bring in through the car.

These extravagant doors are highly functional designed to control the flow of air to the engine.

Along with the brilliant door design, the use of carbon fiber is seen throughout the car making it an extremely lightweight much like its predecessor.

The continuing vents are seen in the door jams for the path of air from the front of the car to the engine.

Also built into the door are these setting switches.

While the door was open, I took a good look at the interior which was as one would expect from Mclaren. Heavy use of carbon fiber throughout the cabin and quite a bit of technology.

The aerodynamic curves of the car continue in the rear in the most extravagant fashion.

The LED lined tail lights are elegantly incorporated into the curves of the car.

One of my favorite details of the P1 are the custom Pirelli P-Zero tires exclusive to this car.

What makes them so special is the tread design which has the Mclaren name and logo etched in as grooves. This is a truly fantastic touch to the car.

Aside from the body lines of the P1, the continuous echoing of the Mclaren logo throughout the car is interesting. At the front, the head lights and the hood vents have this motif.