COMPANY

The McLaren brand produces road cars built on research and development trickling down from the MacLaren Formula 1 Racing Team. These cars have been well known over the years by everyone from sports enthusiasts to celebrities as well as simply rich and affluent individuals.

In the late 1980s, McLaren commissioned a new designer by the name of Gordon Murray. Murray created a supercar known as a mid-engine vehicle to help market the company to those who were enthusiastic about Porsche and Ferrari vehicles. Production delays held the McLaren car up, however, until 1992. The world was deep into a recession and the market for supercars collapsed at that time. To instigate sales, the company created a racing car powered by BMW internal equipment. The car won the famous 24-hour Le Mans in 1995 and the supercar began selling for $1 million each. This was not the most expensive vehicle the company created over the years but it was one of the most successful.

When the economy revived later in the 1990s, Mercedes Benz asked the McLaren team to build another supercar. Work on the vehicle started in 1999 and the first vehicle pulled out of the manufacturer in 2003. By 2010, over 2,000 supercars were made and the overall outcome created a rift between British and German companies. McLaren wanted to build mid-engine, purebred cars with F1 appearances while Mercedes-Benz had a goal to make a vehicle in tribute to a 1950s sports racing car with a front engine by the name of SLR. The car they ended up creating was not ideal for either company and it was not a very big success.

In 2009, McLaren unveiled the MP4-12C as well as the McLaren Automotive, a company with its own line and production facility away from London. The newly released MP4-12C vehicles should be ready for purchase late in 2011. Buyers can expect to find twin-turbo V8 engines as well as carbon-fiber chassis in these cars.

McLaren is an exclusive name and some of the most famous celebrities across the world own cars of this brand. Jay Leno has a huge car and motorcycle collection including McLaren vehicles. Paris Hilton recently changed over to a McLaren SLR. Donald Trump, Robbie Williams, Ja Rule and Phil Ivey all also have McLaren vehicles.