2016 Mclaren 570 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

McLaren promotes new chief designer

Though the racing team has been around for decades, McLaren Automotive as a modern carmaker is one of the youngest around, and continues to fine-tune its senior personnel. In the latest announcement, the Woking, UK-based outfit has named Robert Melville to the role of Chief Designer. At just 37 years old, Melville has been with McLaren as a senior designer since 2009, lending his pen to the lines of the P1, 650S and the upcoming entry-level Sports Series that's confirmed to debut "in the second quarter of 2015," with an anticipated reveal expected at the New York Auto Show in April. Though the title of Chief Designer would seem to suggest that Melville will be the top authority in McLaren's design department, he'll still be reporting to Frank Stephenson, whose role as Design Director remains unchanged. News Source: McLaren Design/Style Hirings/Firings/Layoffs McLaren mclaren automotive chief designer

Ross Brawn retiring from F1 after 16 World Championships

Ross Brawn, an icon of Formula One and one of the people most responsible for the successes of Michael Schumacher, has announced that he's officially retiring from the world of motorsport. Following the return of Ron Dennis to McLaren, many outlets speculated that the 59-year-old would join the Woking-based outfit. Instead, Brawn went fishing. "This is the busiest time of the year for Formula One, and I said I would come along and open the River Dee. If [the media] had put two and two together they would have realized I was definitely retiring," Brawn told The Daily Telegraph. "I'm retiring - it's not tongue in cheek," Brawn said of his fishing trip. "I'm going to take a year to enjoy the fishing and then see what life brings. I'm looking forward to it but I've got no other plans." Last week, Brawn was inducted into Motor Sport magazine's hall of fame, where he said he would "never say never" to coming back to F1, according to the Telegraph. But based on his recent comments, Brawn seems thoroughly committed to his retirement. The 59-year-old Brit's career has seen him capture eight World Constructors' Championships with three teams - Benetton, Ferrari and his own Brawn GP team - while Michael Schumacher captured seven World Drivers' Championships and Jenson Button took one title on Brawn-run teams. News Source: The Daily TelegraphImage Credit: Andre Penner / AP Celebrities Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren scuderia ferrari brawn gp ross brawn brawn

McLaren sold out of the 675LT Spider in two weeks

We've come to expect a McLaren to be fast, but this latest development is measured on an entirely different scale. Just over two weeks after revealing the new 675LT Spider, the British supercar manufacturer has sold out the entire production run of 500 examples. The vehicle in question is the convertible version of the 675LT coupe introduced earlier this year and based, in turn, on the 650S in the company's Super Series. Like the coupe, the 675LT Spider packs an upgraded version of Woking's now-signature 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, rated at a suitably devilish 666 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. The track-tuned roadster also features the extended long-tail bodywork first seen on the coupe and which gives the LT its name, but with a retractable hardtop to let in the extra-raspy exhaust note and the rapidly passing wind through the fortunate occupants' hair. And by rapid, we do mean rapid: 0-62 is quoted at 2.9 seconds and the top speed at 203 miles per hour. The commensurately quick uptake of the Spider, confirmed by company spokesman Wayne Bruce to Autoblog, is even faster than the rate at which it sold the preceding coupe. It took McLaren two months to sell out the 675LT following its introduction at the Geneva Motor Show this past March. Speaking to the prospect of another extreme take on the Super Series to follow, Bruce said the company has "No more announcements planned this year. Let's see what our customers ask of us in 2016." To coincide with the filling of its order books, McLaren released this video of Bruno Senna wringing the spider's neck out. The minute-and-a-half-long clip was shot on and around the same Portimao circuit in Portugal where we recently drove the 570S. Since you won't be able to get your hands on one yourself (unless you got your order in early), this may be the closest you'll ever get to the long-tail roadster, so check out the action in the video above. Related Video: