McLaren

The passion for the sport, led the New Zealander Bruce Mclaren to start his own race team in 1963. He started with a heavily modified Cooper Zerex, that turn out to be the first Mclaren sports car.

Until 1989, the Mclaren was focused on racing, but in that year the Mclaren Automotives was founded. The main goal was to incorporate all the racing technology, mainly Formula 1 developments, into road cars.

The first car, a very well received sports car, classified by the critics as a supercar, was the F1. All was super in this car, including the price. Debuted in 1992, the F1 was the fastest production car in the world, reaching a stunning 386.7 km/h. The F1 was only surpassed in top speed 7 years later after its production, by Bugatti Veyron and the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. But these cars were turbocharged, which means that the F1 is still the fastest naturally aspirated production car.

Other never seen models followed the F1. Mclaren launched the world’s first tandem Formula One car that allowed the passenger to sit directly behind the driver. Between several aborted projects, from a partnership with DaimlerChrysler, the Mercedes-Benz SLR Mclaren was born, in 1999. This was, by all means, another supercar.

Mclaren has other projects up their sleeve, and another supercar may be on its way. However, the company never neglects the races, and motorsport remains is one of its main focuses.

The Mclaren racing team is better known for its participation in the Formula 1 championships, but it has impressive scores in other races. It won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1995, the GT Championship in 1995 and 1996. It has also been nrº 1 at Indianapolis 500 and Can-Am Championships. In fact, it is the only race team to have won Formula One, Indianapolis 500, Can-Am and Le Mans championships.