Formula One is coming to an Asda car park near you with the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C, a road car from the people behind the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team. It will be the first to be built by McLaren Automotive at a new British factory for road-legal supercars.
The UK company is looking to expand beyond racing after the end of its F1 partnership with Mercedes-Benz. The BBC reports a new factory is planned next to the racing team's Woking headquarters, which will employ 800 people. Production will start at 1,000 cars a year, rising to 4,000 over time.
It's been nearly 10 years since McLaren produced the legendary centre-seated F1 road car. The 12C supercar packs a 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged, 600bhp V8 with a seven-speed dual-clutch flappy-paddle gearbox, all encased in a carbon-fibre monocoque. McLaren reckons no other car will be as powerful relative to its CO2 emissions, even though it pumps out over 200g/km of CO2 blah blah blah. Sorry, we stopped listening after '600bhp V8'.
The McLaren MP4-12C will hit the high street in 2011 for between £125,000 and £175,000. With the trade-in value on your Mondeo that's probably do-able, right?
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