Mc Laren 720S

McLaren Automotive is embarking on its next chapter with a new generation of Super Sports models, starting with this: the 720S.

- Stuart Gallagher

SECOND ALBUM syndrome. That’s what McLaren wants to avoid with the 720S. Not only is this new 710bhp coupe the company’s first ‘second-generation’ Super Series car and the replacement for the 650S, it is also the launch pad for 15 new McLaren models or derivatives that will be produced in Working over the next five years. And no, there isn’t an SUV in the plan.

Super Series is the core of McLaren’s DNA. It’s where the company started with the clumsily named MP4-12C and quickly learnt that building supercars isn’t without its pitfalls – and that buyers in this sector, and the media, are a tough bunch to please. Claiming you’ve built a Ferrari rival is one thing. Proving you have is an altogether tougher task, and one McLaren experienced in public view.

It learnt, though. Updates came, tweaks were developed, the name was shortened and the 12C went on to blossom before eventually evolving into the 650S – a car that has, or rather had (the last example, a Spider, has been built, registered and added to McLaren’s heritage fleet), the credentials to go nose-to nose with Ferrari’s rather brilliant 488 GTB. This is pretty remarkable considering Ferrari will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2017, modern McLaren Automotive only its seventh.

‘The 720S would be replacing the core of our range,’ says Mark Vinnels, executive director for programme development at McLaren. ‘It would also be our first “second-generation” model; we knew we didn’t want it to be just an evolutionary step.

‘At the beginning we said [to the designers], show us sketches that aren’t comfortable [for us]. We could see there were things that would need to be developed, but at that stage we didn’t have the execution in our minds, such as the new carbonfibre structure.’