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Say goodbye to the McLaren P1

McLaren just built the 375th and final example of the P1. And with it, production of the hybrid hypercar draws to a close, sealing the chapter on one of the most capable performance machines ever to grace the road. Now that all 375 have been completed, the company is retiring the model entirely. It still has a handful of track-bound P1 GTRs to finish, but expects to complete those early in the new year ahead. Speaking with Autoblog recently at the launch of the 570S, spokesman Wayne Bruce confirmed that no further versions of the P1 would follow – no convertibles, no road-going take on the GTR, nothing. So once the P1 GTR is finished, the production line will be shut down and the Ultimate Series will be no more. He also told us that no plans for a successor are on the table at the moment, a notion echoed by his boss, chief executive Mike Flewitt, in the statement below: "The McLaren P1 has already established itself as an icon and any car that is to continue the lineage of the Ultimate Series will need to be a worthy successor - a significant step change in technology or performance is required to ensure this is the case. The future is undecided at this stage." Envisioned as the spiritual successor to the legendary McLaren F1, the P1 debuted in concept form at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, and in production form at the Geneva show the following year. It was designed around the same building blocks – carbon monocoque, 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, seven-speed DCT – as everything else McLaren produces, but features a hybrid powertrain to boost output up to 903 horsepower. The result is a 0-62 time of 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 217 miles per hour. McLaren limited production to just 375 examples made available for public consumption (on top of factory 21 prototypes), making it more exclusive than either the Porsche 918 Spyder or Ferrari LaFerrari with which it has invariably been compared. Each of those 375 examples took 105 workers 800 man-hours across 17 days to complete, rolling off the dedicated assembly on the side of the McLaren Production Centre at a rate of one each day. The paint process alone could take up to five days, depending on specification, with yellow emerging the most popular color choice. Every last one was made to order and customized by McLaren Special Operations, ensuring that no two were alike. The first example pictured above rolled off the assembly line in September 2013, finished in silver with contrasting carbon-fiber trim.

The McLaren 620R is revealed as a road-legal 570S GT4 race car

Perhaps you missed out on the limited-run McLaren Senna race car for the road. Those were all snapped up immediately, so it’s understandable if you did. DonÂ’t fret, though, because McLaren just unveiled another road-legal race car that it plans to sell 350 of. ItÂ’s called the McLaren 620R, and itÂ’s even more exclusive than the 500-unit Senna. The 620R is truly a road-legal 570S GT4 race car at its core. McLaren simply homologated it for road use, and then took advantage of the total lack of racing regulations to make it even quicker than the race version. The end result is rather enticing. To make it road legal, McLaren attacked a laundry list of items. The massive rear wing gained a brake light. McLaren says that cars will be delivered to customers in the most roadworthy low-downforce setting, but a McLaren retailer is able to adjust it to one of the two other more aggressive settings — in maximum attack, it can contribute 408 pounds of downforce. The front bumper and splitter were redesigned with “more pronounced aero blades” on the splitter. Dive planes were added to help accelerate air flow along the sides of the car and aid brake cooling. Then, the redesigned carbon fiber hood has two nostrils to clean up the air flowing over the top of the car and aid downforce. The full frontal aero package is able to produce up to 143 pounds of downforce. As expected, it uses an unshackled version of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 out of the GT4 race car. In this spec, it produces 612 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. ThatÂ’s good for a 0-60 mph sprint in 2.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 200 mph. The dampers are straight off the GT4, too. TheyÂ’re manually adjustable, and actually contribute to a 13-pound weight savings over the road version of the 570S. Still, these dampers are meant for the track, so expect them to be brutally stiff on our pockmarked roads. Lightweight aluminum wishbones and uprights are used, plus stiffer anti-roll bars as well. Carbon ceramic rotors and forged aluminum calipers are used to stop. McLaren says stopping power is spectacular with the standard Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires, but itÂ’s taken to an entirely new level with the optional full slicks. Buyers in the U.S. are allowed even more goodies than those elsewhere with this car. YouÂ’re able to spec an MSO upgrade package that features a carbon fiber roof and roof scoop for the carÂ’s intake.

That McLaren windshield smash video? It's a fake

The saying that you can't always believe what you see on the Internet continues to ring true. We reported on a video in which a skateboarder violently smashes the windshield of an orange McLaren, and apparently it was all staged. Jalopnik reported today that the people who uploaded the video came clean about the whole thing being made up. They say the windshield was already smashed and going to be replaced, so the owners, who run an exotic-car-rental company in Denver, decided to have some fun. (Note that the smash is heard but not seen in the video.) You can check out Jalopnik for the full story. So we've been fooled, but on the plus side, that skateboarding kid is safe and sound – and not in debt. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.