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McLaren P1 looks retrolicious in Gulf livery

We live in a bit of a conundrum over here in the Autoblog editorial office. On the one hand, we're big fans of progress – and things move fast in the automotive industry. On the other, we do like a bit of retro style from time to time – especially when it comes to classic racing liveries. Where those two intersect, though, can leave us weak in the knees. Like this McLaren P1, for example, decked out in retro Gulf livery. Commissioned from the McLaren Special Operations by Canadian venture capitalist and philanthropist Miles Nadal, this one-of-a-kind take on Woking's flagship hybrid hypercar looks prime to line up alongside a Martini-liveried Porsche 918 Spyder or trounce a JPS-inspired Lotus Evora. It may not have the Gulf Oil logos plastered all over it – that would strike us as a little over the top – but it has been done up in the traditional baby blue with orange accents, from the tapered orange stripe running over the top to the orange brake calipers. The theme continues subtly inside where McLaren's own signature orange accents are joined by more baby blue to complete the theme. Though McLaren might not be as closely associated with Gulf as say, Aston Martin or Porsche, the two have crossed paths on a handful of notable instances over the course of their respective histories in racing. One of the most iconic of the long-tail McLaren F1 GTRs wore Gulf livery alongside Davidoff logos, as did another short-tail example, as well as an M8D, M16B-2 and M19A straight through to the modern MP4-12C GT3. Featured Gallery McLaren P1 in Gulf livery View 12 Photos News Source: McLaren via Facebook McLaren Coupe Supercars mclaren p1 mclaren special operations gulf mso

McLaren P1 crashed by 27-year-old driver a day after he bought it

There's one fewer McLaren P1 spitting fire on the world's roads after a 27-year-old driver wrecked his $1.15-million supercar in Dallas, TX, just a day after he picked it up from a local luxury car dealer. According to KHOU local news, police were responding to the crash site by 7:41 AM the next day. The 903-horsepower P1 allegedly hit a wet patch of road and spun, slamming the car into a guardrail. Judging by a photo obtained by KHOU, the hit did serious damage to the back of the supercar and bent the driver's side rear wheel into the body. The McLaren was the only vehicle involved in the crash, though, and the shunt sent both the driver and a 24-year-old passenger to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Featured Gallery 2015 McLaren P1: First Drive View 39 Photos News Source: KHOU via Motor AuthorityImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL McLaren Ownership Safety Coupe Performance Supercars mclaren p1

McLaren reveals new P1 GTR ready for gentleman racers

There are race cars and there are road cars. McLaren is known for making both, but lately there's been a new class of vehicles emerging in between. They're supercars developed specifically for the track but for no specific racing series, and the new McLaren P1 GTR is the latest. Previewed in concept form in Monterey this past summer, the P1 GTR is now ready to hit the track. It's based, of course, on the P1 – Woking's million-dollar flagship hybrid hypercar – but incorporates a long list of upgrades to make it better suited towards ripping around a closed circuit than an open road. For starters, the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain has been optimized for track use and retuned: the internal combustion engine cranking out 789 horsepower (up from 727) and the electric motor another 197 (up from 176) for a combined output of 986 hp. The other side of the power-to-weight ratio has also been optimized, with unnecessary elements removed and many parts replaced by lighter ones: The glass roof and engine cover, for example, have been replaced by carbon fiber, and the side windows by plexiglass. There's also a new Inconel and titanium alloy exhaust that saves 14 pounds all by itself. The result of these and other measures is a drop in curb weight by a solid 110 lbs. Of course the performance-obsessed engineers in Woking didn't stop there. They also dropped the suspension by two inches and widened the track by over three, riding on 19-inch alloys with Pirelli slicks. The aero has also been revised, with a splitter jutting out the chin and a fixed wing rising a foot and a half taller than the roof, helping the P1 GTR produce 10 percent more downforce than the road car on which it's based. Hit 150 mph on the straightaway and you'd be generating 1,455 lbs of downforce, assuming you haven't activated the Drag Reduction System flap in the rear wing by then. Although it hasn't disclosed the details, and as good as the road-car's stoppers are, McLaren has hopefully upgraded the brakes as well. Like arch-rival Ferrari's XX client development program (and the path that Aston Martin is tipped to take with the upcoming new Vulcan), the P1 GTR will be part of an organized program. Participating owners will start at the McLaren Technology Centre to have their seats fitted, livery designed and fitness assessed before hitting the first track sessions at Silverstone in the UK and Catalunya in Spain.