Why is McLaren making the P1 GTR? It’s a legitimate question considering that the 375 P1s that will be made before next May are supposed to be the ultimate expression of what road cars can do.
According to company boss Mike Flewitt it’s got a lot less to do with the £60 million worth of revenue that McLaren can expect to haul in, and more to do with "making customers feel special".
At the launch of the new car in Pebble Beach, California Flewitt told us that anyone who buys a GTR will "immerse themselves in McLaren."
Remember that you'll have already forked out for a P1 before being invited to order a GTR. And if you do buy one you’ll enter a world where McLaren will look after your car in Woking and then deliver it to up to six super-exclusive track days around the world.
You can also get advanced driver training, practice in the company’s F1 simulator and even have access to fitness trainers and nutritionists.
All this is in the name of exploiting what will be an even faster, harder car than your normal P1, with considerably more downforce and slick tyres generating a lot more grip. In essence, it’s exactly like Ferrari’s well-known FXX programme.
McLaren’s clearly doing this in the name of adding emotional appeal, especially in the eyes of wealthy, influential customers. But surely an equally adept way of doing that would be to have a P1 GTR single make race series that we could all (vicariously) enjoy? It’s not part of Flewitt’s plan right now, but you can tell he’s thought about it.
Seeing McLaren go sportscar racing again would be something wouldn’t it?
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