McLaren P13 To Anchor The "Entry Level" In Three-Car Strategy

With the P1 supercar in the process of launching across the globe (see above Malaysian-debut video from our friend Bobby at LiveLifeDrive), McLaren is now planning to extend its brand to the, ah, lower half of the proverbial one percent.

According to AutoExpress,

The McLaren P13, the third member of [the] company’s road car range will cost £120,000 and deliver 450bhp… The mid-engined Porsche 911 Turbo rival, codenamed P13, will mark the entry point for McLaren ownership – and a well placed source says it will take styling inspiration from the £866,000 hybrid P1, rather than the 12C… Given its shrunken size and carbon fibre construction, the P13 will weigh even less than the 1,434kg 12C and significantly less than the 1,600kg 911 Turbo. Power should come from the same in-house-designed 3.8-litre V8 turbo.

McLaren’s completely ridiculous naming strategy appears to have been given the heave-ho for good; the “12” in MP4-12C was supposed to represent some McLaren Performance Index, with higher numbers being better. But the P1 wasn’t called the MP4-15 or something like that; it was called “P1” to remind people that McLaren is still in the Formula One business.

This lower-performance car will be called the P13, which is about where McLaren’s been qualifying lately, so I suppose it makes sense. It’s certain to be a success in Europe, where it will be considered a “high-touch” alternative to the 911 Turbo. (The 911 GT3 is likely to find itself conspicuous by its absence in McLaren competitive-comparison press material.) In the United States, the outcome is less clear; although the MP4-12 was recently fluffed to within an inch of its life by our home-team media it’s starting to look like showroom poison.