McLaren confirms new 820hp supercar for 2027
Having left an Easter egg on a literal bird, McLaren officially announces McL 820
As you might have heard, McLaren revealed a statue of a giant Kiwi in Covent Garden this week. Usually this sort of softball marketing campaign, aimed at catching the attention of big-city dwellers, is about as interesting as a mid-roll YouTube advert. But some passersby were sufficiently bored by the street entertainers to notice that the liveried-up bird came with a name on the side: McL 820.
Cue a predictable (and targeted, obviously) amount of internet discussion on what exactly that might mean; 24 hours later, came the official confirmation. ‘McLaren today announces McL 820, the next McLaren series supercar, coming in 2027.’ And though it does not specifically mention the outgoing 750S - the model it retired at the start of the month - clearly the newcomer will be the replacement for the firm’s long-running and highly regarded flagship.
As you might expect, the appearance of the new name on the side of a flightless bird is not incidental; next-generation McLaren has been very forthright about its intention to make better use of its heritage, and the Kiwi - a favoured emblem of Bruce McLaren - obviously signifies that continuing effort. It also reflects the manufacturer’s new naming structure, which kicked off with the McL 6GT that it revealed at Pebble Beach in the summer.
Since then, McLaren has busied itself with the headline-making statements about its bold plans for expansion, not least in terms of buildings and additional staff, but also in its endorsement of the elephant in the room: a future, in-house-developed SUV. It has less to say about the supercar that will precede its arrival, except to confirm that the 820 name does indeed refer to the car’s output in PS.
How it will arrive at that number is for now an open question, although given McLaren’s previous acknowledgments about where its engine technology is headed, it is safe to assume that the new V8 it plans to self-build will make its debut in the McL 820. The expectation is that the new unit will be lightly hybridised, and built to compete with top-flight options currently offered by its nearest rivals. While it offers a healthy increase over the 750S, the number is also conservative enough to allow for plenty of headroom when it comes to limited edition variants.
Whatever the precise nature of the powertrain, expect it to be mounted in the middle of the McL 820, and for the supercar to make continued use of architectural carbon fibre - a construction method McLaren understands as well as anyone. The SUV will be built on a front-engined platform still on the drawing board, making its core model the most prominent carrier of the firm’s established DNA. And with production of the Artura and GT winding down next year, McLaren will need a formidable mid-engined poster child more than ever. Further details are promised in due course.
Building an SUV is a sad but perhaps necessary evil. Performance manufacturers should really look at a different set of priorities to luxury marques. A McLaren, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, or even Bentley SUV should be something that could conceivably win a race. Make the body low and wide, and if it has to be jacked up, make it jacked up for sand dunes and mud pits, not Kensington kerbs and speedbumps. Most importantly, make it weigh less! Else there's no S about it, it's just a big fat squishy UV.
Building an SUV is a sad but perhaps necessary evil. Performance manufacturers should really look at a different set of priorities to luxury marques. A McLaren, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, or even Bentley SUV should be something that could conceivably win a race. Make the body low and wide, and if it has to be jacked up, make it jacked up for sand dunes and mud pits, not Kensington kerbs and speedbumps. Most importantly, make it weigh less! Else there's no S about it, it's just a big fat squishy UV.
The Cayenne is a "big fat squishy" SUV yet without it, there'd likely be no Porsche. Same for Lotus with their Lifestyle vehicles.
It's fine not to know about something, but so many posters seem to use their own ignorance of McLaren as a stick to beat them with, usually within the first half a dozen posts on a story about them. At least this gets points for originality, but still...
The majority might have some knowledge of McLaren from 1980 onwards, but few would recognise what brand the Speedy Kiwi was for and even fewer would tie it back to the bird.
They've gone mining into heritage that's recognisable to very few, possibly because heritage is one retreat for a marketing team out of ideas.
You can argue the Papaya has exactly the same heritage but that works because it's a bright recognisable colour (just like it always did), less so because anyone really remembers the link to Bruce.
The majority might have some knowledge of McLaren from 1980 onwards, but few would recognise what brand the Speedy Kiwi was for and even fewer would tie it back to the bird.
They've gone mining into heritage that's recognisable to very few, possibly because heritage is one retreat for a marketing team out of ideas.
You can argue the Papaya has exactly the same heritage but that works because it's a bright recognisable colour (just like it always did), less so because anyone really remembers the link to Bruce.
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