McLaren Speedtail Reviews

Adelaide Auto Expo to showcase American muscle and European majesty November 28 and 29.Previously known as the Extreme Auto Expo, the Adelaide Auto Expo will be held at the Adelaide Showgrounds this weekend showcasing a variety of street machines, hot rods, muscle cars and more across two days.The expo will boast a 600-car lineup across the seven different mini-shows the event comprises.The Sprint Auto Parts Extreme Auto Expo features street machines and custom motorbikes from across South Australia and interstate. The lineup will include the Kam Chevrolet Nova, an American muscle car completely rebuilt in order to accommodate a 9.4-litre/1118kW Chev big-block engine.There are also dyno and swimwear competitions as well as a trade exhibition full of automotive gadgets.For fans of 1960s custom cars and hot rods, the Adelaide Hot Rod Show will be of interest. There will even be a demonstration on how to build your own hot rod to cruise the streets.There will be a taste of exotica in the Dream Car Garage with examples from Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Audi and Nissan on display.Chamois and polish will be the order of the day at the Show 'n Shine competition, where aficionados of immaculate car care can take in some pristine cars.If getting from one set of traffic lights to the next as fast and as loud as possible is your thing then the Aussic Classic and Muscle Car will be of interest. On Friday night the cars will cruise the streets around the show, giving you the chance to see some of the machinery in action.American muscle cars and hot rods will get their chance to cruise on Saturday night with the Zippel Cruise letting the foreigners showcase how they go on the road.Alternately, you can just oggle at Phil Rilotta’s 16.5-litre/1491kW Camaro drag racer, if extreme numbers are your thing.The Adelaide Auto Expo runs Friday November 28 (5pm to 9pm) and Saturday November 29 (10am to 9pm) at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Tickets are $25 with children 13 and under admitted free.

Research shows fewer enthusiasts, less desire for sexy cars, but a creep from used to new.

The British pretender to the Italian crown of the Ferrari 458 Italia is going after just three years to clear production space in Britain for McLaren’s newest model, the 650S.It is being dumped as McLaren also builds its insanely fast P1 hybrid flagship and moves quickly on a plan for a cheaper sports car that will go head-to-head with the Porsche 911.The death of the oddly-named 12C is a surprising move as it was only introduced in 2011, although poor sales in Australia - and most other countries - led to a price cut of nearly $100,000 last year.But there is a farewell bonus for owners, with a free upgrade package that includes new active aero software to improve stability and cut high-speed drag, a improved infotainment system and external window switches. McLaren also promises discounted upgrades on 650S equipment including a reversing camera and satellite radio.“Yes, the 12C is going. In future, 100 per cent of production is being focussed on the 650S,” the brand operations manager for McLaren in Australia, Jay McCormack, says.“The only cars coming now will be bespoke build through McLaren Special Operations, but this will be less and less.”The death of the 12C is announced from Britain by McLaren’s chief executive, Mike Flewitt.“We have decided to cease in light of the success of 650S. We will focus all our capacity at the McLaren Production Centre on 650S.”There is already a six-month waiting list for the car - priced from $441,500 as a coupe, and an extra $44,750 for the Spider - and McLaren says there are forward orders from Australia until the end of 2014.“The first customer 650 gets here next month. We hope to fulfil all our existing orders by the end of this year,” says McCormack.There are also a handful of 12Cs, as the final sales total for Australia tops 50 cars thanks to the price cut.“We are still selling 12Cs for 2014, and I have my hands on a few of those. They are predominantly Spiders, but I have one coupe,” says McCormack.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover

Watch the McLaren perfect lap video on our desktop site.

GPS tracking devices have been used by a car theft ring in the UK to steal vehicles, largely targeting those parked at airports. The gang used an insider member at the airport and cloning devices to replicate 'keyless entry' transponders for the cars, attached the trackers, and then stole the vehicles weeks or even months later.Police had for some time been left "scratching their heads" over the crimes, a court heard during the trial of members of the ring, according to a report in The Telegraph.The thieves also targeted vehicles in traffic, causing minor damage to them and then directing them to a repairer who was part of the ring, and who would clone the car's key -- and also fit a tracking device that would allow the theft to take place some time later.Targeted vehicles included an expensive McLaren and Bentley Continental, but were largely mid and upper-level premium brands, including more common Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Range Rover and Land Rover models.The gang was uncovered after police became suspicious about the repairer, and fitted up a 'Trojan' vehicle with recording devices and their own tracking unit, then took it to the body shop. The thieves discovered part of the tracking unit in the undercover vehicle and reversed their attempts to clone its keys. But unbeknownst to them the recording devices were still monitoring all their conversations, including discussions of the Trojan vehicle.The court was told more than 100 of the vehicles stolen were tracked as having been shipped to East Africa for sale. Only one has been recovered.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

McLaren's legendary F1 hyper car was recently superseded by the P1, a 673kW twin turbo V8 hybrid speed monster. But it doesn't follow the F1 in the spirit of driving purity, according to the earlier car's creator, Gordon Murray.Murray designed and engineered the 1992 F1, but he is not excited by his former employer's new P1 hypercar. The heavy electric motors and computer assisted components don't excite his passion for driving, and nor does the relative weight of the P1 and its closest rivals – LaFerrari and Porsche 918.Instead he's planning a lightweight supercar, focused entirely on the driving experience. "I've got one more supercar left in me" he said to Motor Sport Magazine. The new Supercar would be limited to similar numbers as the F1, and would follow the same ethos.Murray designed and engineered the F1 as a driver focused, lightweight driving machine that held the title for fastest production Supercar until the Bugatti Veyron took over – more than a decade later. It had a central driving position, Formula 1 style, to maximise the driving experience. It also featured a manual transmission, and a 468kW, 6.1-litre BMW V12 engine with no turbos so as to not detract from the immediacy of power delivery.More importantly, it featured one of the first uses of a carbon fibre tub, which multiplied passenger cell strength while reducing weight – a technology that was still new in Formula 1 back then, and is still used in today's supercars. This resulted in a car that weighs just 1062kg, achieving a top speed of 391km/h, making it the fastest production McLaren yet – with the new P1 being limited to 350km/h.Before he left McLaren, Murray penned a strategy for the British supercar company, where the F1 would get replaced by a smaller, lighter naturally aspirated driving machine. However, technological advances, the need for more efficiency, safety and lower emissions lead to the creation of the P1 Hybrid hypercar instead.Murray expressed excitement at the challenge of a light new supercar that carries the spirit of the F1. "The fun and new challenge to me would be looking at this new brace of supercars, one-and-half-to-two tonnes, full of electrics and stuff, would be to dump all that and build a driver's car again", he said.But those who think Murray completely disdains electric power should know that among his his nine other car projects underway is a city car called MOTIV.e, powered by a 25kW, and 896Nm electric motor, capable of 105km/h. Plastic panels on a lightweight frame keeps mass down to 730kg, and allow for a 160km range. Yamaha intends to produce it, having shown the world a preview at the Tokyo Motor Show last November.For those who are excited by Murray's motivations but can't afford a new supercar, a cheaper sports car designed by Murray is due in 2017. The lightweight car will have similar simplicity and lightweight ideals as its supercar sibling, and will be joined later by several other cars, including an offroader. 

Despite the normally locked-down security at McLaren -- where it's forbidden to pass information internally on USBs for fear of leaks -- the new 650S has escaped online ahead of its debut at Geneva sh

The next season of Top Gear is just around the high-speed corner, and the hit car show has released an extended trailer to give us a taste of the action.It shows you can expect to see the stunning Alfa Romeo 4C facing off in one of the signature mismatch races, the completely insane six-wheeled Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6, the McLaren P1 supercar and a tank. For starters.Then there's a trek through Thailand and Burma with some luridly decorated trucks, plus there is tipped to be a segment featuring Australia's V8 Supercars. Garnish with some stars in a reasonably priced car, hot lap times from The Stig, and it looks like another recipe for vehicular viewing success.Watch the extended trailer to Top Gear season 21 on our desktop site. 

We know the McLaren P1 has been to the Nurburgring, and we know it’s lapped the famous circuit in anger. What we don’t know is just how fast it was around the Green Hell, which is the big question on the lips of most supercar fans.Porsche has proudly spruiked the 6:57 time achieved by its 918 Spyder, but McLaren’s ‘Ring video was notably devoid of a lap timer, causing many to concede that we may never know the exact figure.Rumours have suggested a 6:47 lap time, and McLaren have admitted to "considerably less than seven minutes", but Autocar reports that the actual time is at least seven seconds faster again.Speaking to an anonymous McLaren insider, the P1 is apparently “a fair bit quicker than that”, with a lap time between 6:30 and 6:40, which would put it at least 17 seconds faster than the Porsche 918 Spyder’s 6:57 official lap, at least 28 seconds faster than the 7:08 of the Nissan GT-R Nismo, and at least 8 seconds faster than the barely-legal Radical SR8 LM’s 6:48 current road-car record.While this is still no official claim from McLaren, it would appear that the British brand’s F1 successor has delivered on its performance promises, and could only be foreseeably toppled by Ferrari’s LaFerrari. However the Italian deity appears reluctant to grubby itself with such competition, despite the appearance of a camouflaged prototype at the circuit late last year.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

Polish car nut Jacek Mazur has snubbed the old warning “don’t touch what you can’t afford” by building his own backyard version of the famed – and rare -- McLaren F1 supercar.The amateur mechanic has built himself an impressive likeness to the highly collectible machine, which has increased in value tenfold in the 22 years since its introduction.“The McLaren was such a great car that when I saw it the first time I decided to build it,” Jacek says in a video covering his creation (below).Using just scrap and spare parts, the 48 year old spent eight years and just zl100,000 ($36,500) to build his replica, 250 times less than the US$8.47 million ($9.5 million) commanded by a genuine example at a US auction earlier this year.“I have been creating cars for the past 20 years now. I have built many types of cars previously, including a Porsche 911 and a Lamborghini Countach,” he says.Jacek is a health and safety advisor by trade, but still managed to construct his replica’s tubular chassis from scratch, along with expanding on the F1’s unique three-seat cabin layout.“The most difficult part of the building process was the construction of the frame and the positioning of the driver’s seat. I managed to squeeze in a fourth seat that I called the ‘Hammond-seat’.”The fourth seat is crammed behind the driver’s seat, leaving enough room for a passenger of similar staure to the pint-sized Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond.While Jacek chose not to use the F1’s 486kW 6.1-litre BMW V12 and, his replica’s Audi V8 engine and Mercedes brakes maintain some performance pedigree.While it may not be capable of the real McLaren’s record-breaking 386.5km/h top speed, Jacek claims the fruit of his labours will hit a credible 320km/h.“Many people will literally stop and stare and take a proper look at it. They will ask what model the car is. Even if it’s just a replica, it looks like the real deal.”On that basis, those who missed out on buying one of the already sold-out new McLaren P1 or LaFerrari supercars might be tempted to get onto Jacek…This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn