2020 Mclaren 720s Spider Performance Over $430,000 Msrp, $30k Mods + Full P 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

Struggling McLaren-Honda F1 partners near 'fork in the road'

WOKING, England - McLaren's partnership with Honda has not worked so far, and the team is now approaching a "fork in the road," executive director Zak Brown said on Wednesday. Speaking to Reuters in his office at the Formula One team's headquarters, Brown (pictured above) indicated clearly that a parting of the ways was a real option under consideration by management. The American said engine upgrades promised for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix were not ready, and the Japanese manufacturer could not say when they might be. And while McLaren still wanted to win championships with Honda, there were serious concerns as to whether that was achievable. "Honda's working very hard, but they seem a bit lost," said Brown, who replaced Ron Dennis at the helm late last year. "We were only told recently that we wouldn't have the upgrade coming (for Montreal) ... and we don't have a definitive timeline, which is concerning because the pain is great and we can't sit around forever. "We were eagerly awaiting this upgrade as were our drivers, and it's a big disappointment that it's not coming. It's not lack of effort, but they are struggling to get it to come together."FAILURE AND EMBARRASSMENT McLaren, the second oldest and most successful team in Formula One after Ferrari in terms of race wins, are the only ones yet to score a point this season. They have not won a race since 2012. The renewed partnership with Honda in 2015 was billed as a return to the glory days, when French great Alain Prost and the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna dominated the late 1980s and early 1990s. Instead it has brought failure and embarrassment to the former world champions, whose cars have failed to finish races -- and sometimes even start them -- due to engine failures. Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, a double world champion whose future is uncertain, said in March that "we have only one problem, and that is the power unit. There is no reliability and there is no power." Honda's engine troubles even plagued Alonso at the Indy 500, where a failure took him out of the race. McLaren were ninth in 2015, sixth last year and this season could become their worst ever. MARCHING ORDERS "The executive committee have now given us our marching orders," said Brown, who is also chairman of the fast-growing Motorsport Network media group. "We're not going to go into another year like this, in hope." "I don't want to get into what our options are.

Time to configure your McLaren 650S

If you're like us, Friday afternoons are the bane of your existence - the freedom of the weekend is so close you can taste the beer and see the red of your TV's Netflix logo, but the minutes that stand in your way slip by with all the speed of a retreating glacier. You need a way of burning that time, and as it turns out, online supercar configurators are just the answer. Lucky for you, this Friday brings a new one, with the McLaren 650S coupe and convertible available for building. As high-end configurators go, this is a good one. There's a big picture of the car and a wealth of customization options to play with. Like a lot of configurators this one doesn't display prices, although with the hardtop McLaren middle child rumored to crest $318,000, does it really matter? Hop over to McLaren's page and get cracking – those minutes aren't moving any faster. Related Gallery McLaren 650S View 10 Photos Related Gallery McLaren 650S Spider View 10 Photos News Source: McLarenTip: Sean McLaren Car Buying Convertible Coupe Performance configurator mclaren 650s build your own mclaren 650s spider