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McLaren's 10,000th car shows how close it is to catching up with Ferrari and Lamborghini

The move from Formula One to road-worthy production cars isn't an easy one. Just over five years since production on the MP4-12C began, McLaren completed production of its 10,000th car. Even more noteworthy, it took 42 months to build the first 5,000 cars but only 22 months to make it to 10,000. The automaker, which until 2011 had only built a single line of road-going cars, appears to be on a roll with more volume and more models hitting the streets every year. McLaren is set to nearly double its year-over year sales in 2016. The automaker sold 1,654 cars in 2015 and expects to hit 3,000 sales in 2016. While those are good sales number for a relatively new full-line supercar manufacturer, they're still short of the competition. Lamborghini had its best year ever in 2015 with 3,245 cars sold. Ferrari plans to expand production to 9,000 cars annually by 2019. McLaren may be able to compete with the big boys on the track, but it still has a ways to go before it can match their sales. The 10,000th car to roll off the line was a 570S wrapped in Ceramic Grey, a color from McLaren Special Operations. MSO is the division behind awesome cars like the 679-horsepower McLaren MSO HS. The car will be held by the company for its Heritage Collection. The McLaren Sport Series (540C, 570S, and 570GT) were a big boon toward boosting the company's output. An additional production line was built, doubling output from 10 to 20 cars per day. We hope McLaren can continue this growth, and we're looking forward to more new products like the upcoming three-seat F1 successor. We just wish they could come up with some better names. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren and Honda rekindle a winning combination

With the 2014 Formula One World Championship now drawn to a close, all eyes are fixed on next season. And for both McLaren and Honda, that means the dawn of a new era – or hopefully, the return to one bygone. After twenty years running Mercedes engines, McLaren is switching back to Honda next season, rekindling the most successful partnership the once-dominant team has ever had. Immediately after swapping to Honda power in 1988 – and with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel – McLaren entered its winningest era, racking up four consecutive world championships. In the two decades it's spent under Mercedes power since, it won three drivers' titles and one constructors', leaving the relatively brief Honda era as its most successful. It was also the most successful for Honda, which had enjoyed success with Williams and some with Lotus, but far more with McLaren – the likes of which it was never able to recreate. The Japanese automaker that was the first to break into the Euro-centric series left grand prix racing when it left McLaren, and despite returning to fund its own team for the better part of a decade, claimed but one checkered flag before calling it quits again. Whether the new collaboration will return both outfits to the winner's circle remains to be seen, but we're looking forward to finding out. In the meantime, after releasing a couple of images from the video shoot last week, McLaren has put out this minute-and-a-half video clip showing the MP4-29H running a few laps around Silverstone, marking the official start of what could be the second reign of the McLaren-Honda dynasty. News Source: McLaren Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles Videos F1 mclaren-honda

McLaren has an electrochromic glass roof to fix the 570GT's solar issue

The McLaren 570GT has a huge glass roof. It looks cool, but it can let a lot of light in, which is not so cool. To solve this (and to show off the latest in custom pieces and paint), McLaren Special Operations has gone to work on the car, in the process making it a little more special. In traditional MSO fashion, the 570GT by MSO Concept isn't an all-new car, but more of a makeover for the road-friendly sports car. McLaren released details on its latest concept ahead of the car's official debut at Pebble Beach. While the majority of the bespoke touches amount to special paint and badging, the niftiest feature is an electrochromic roof that's being developed for production. McLaren added an electrochromic interlayer within the 570GT's standard glass roof that uses electric current to adjust the amount of light coming in through the roof, with five different settings that range from clear to dark. The roof should be a welcome touch for drivers in warmer, sunnier climates, and it should help reduce the occurrence of reflections on the car's display screens, an issue we found on our first drive. This isn't the first time an electrochromic glass roof has made its way to a high-end vehicle, as Mercedes-Benz offers similar tech, dubbed Magic Sky Control, on its roadsters and the Maybach. The touch-sensitive headliner used to control it, though, is new technology. Plus it just sounds cool. Besides the roof, the 570GT by MSO Concept is fitted with a richer-sounding titanium exhaust system that is lighter than the standard stainless steel system and features heat shields that are finished in a golden titanium nitride tint, a nod to the McLaren F1's gold-lined engine bay. The system also acts as a built-in rainbow, changing colors from blue to purple and back as it gets hot and cools down. Other unique touches include a pearl white paint job with gloss-lacquered carbon-fiber sill panels and gloss black on the side skirts, wheels, and door inserts. The "By McLaren" interior has saddle tan leather and more bits of carbon fiber. Those items aren't the most exciting, even by MSO standards, but we can totally get behind the trick roof and gold-tinted exhaust. Related Video: Featured Gallery McLaren 570GT by MSO Concept View 9 Photos News Source: McLarenImage Credit: McLaren McLaren Coupe Luxury Performance Pebble Beach mclaren special operations mclaren 570gt