The new McLaren MP4-12C is on the front cover of Automobile Magazine for the month of November.
I first heard rumors of this car coming into production a few months ago, I saw photos of it, and heard of speculated performance stats.
My first impression of this news was excitement. Although the car did not look quite astonishing, it had a unique image to it. It is the predecessor to the McLaren F1, so naturally, this thing has to be ground breaking, revolutionary, a super car’s super car.
The more I read about the MP4-12C, the more hesitant I became to place it upon a pedestal of glory in automotive history. It almost seemed like I was reading about any other super car out there, a Lamborghini Gallardo or Murcielago, a Ferrari F430, or a Koenigsegg CCX. The MP4-12C can just get in line behind all these cars. There is nothing new or exciting about the McLaren that those cars can’t do. I think that McLaren dropped the ball with the MP4-12C. What they should have gone after was the Bugatti Veyron. That was the kind of car the McLaren F1 was almost 18 years ago. The F1 was a super car’s super car, just as the Bugatti is today. Surprisingly, the F1 is still considered one of the top super cars ever made, and turns heads everywhere one shows up. Now days, there is nothing in competition with the Bugatti which would have presented McLaren the perfect opportunity to reclaim the ultimate automobile status. Instead they show up in the ring with the everyday super cars ready to put up a fight, not even attempting to take a punch at the current king. Obviously, they don’t remember what it’s like to be the kingpin car in the parking garage anymore.
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