A KICK IN THE TAIL

Octane celebrates a decade of McLaren Longtails with an exclusive triple-test of the 675, 600 and 765 LTs

- Matthew Hayward

Automotive manufacturers often like to talk about evolution, DNA and lineage as if their products are biological creatures, but as I set foot inside the McLaren Technology Centre - itself a very organic-feeling, living, breathing Norman Foster-designed masterpiece - there's no denying the familial connection between all the road cars on display. I'm instantly drawn to one of the very first MP4-12Cs, the car that kicked off the McLaren Automotive journey in 2012 and the starting point for all that followed: mid-mounted turbocharged V8, carbonfibre MonoCell structure and a focus on weight-saving.

Today is all about celebrating the tenth anniversary of something very important to the company's development: the LT family. The moniker is short for 'Longtail', and the three cars sitting just outside the reception represent the pinnacle of McLaren supercars this side of the far more extreme (and expensive) Ultimate Series cars such as the Senna and Speedtail. If you're not familiar with the names then I apologise in advance, as this might get a little hard to follow - especially as two of the cars are a very similar shade of green!

The real genesis of the LT series is, of course, the legendary 1997 F1 GTR 'longtail', the ultimate racing development of that fabled car. Although McLaren had won Le Mans with a lightly modified road car in 1995, the battlefield of GT1 racers had changed significantly, requiring a significant evolution in order to stay competitive. New bodywork helped to optimise downforce, with extended front and rear clamshell sections; modifications that saw weight reduced even further. While the longtail GTR is not directly related to the newer family, it was that same ethos of lightness and more extreme aero that McLaren says inspired these LTs.