RE: Speedtail offered with 18 carat gold badges

[Guvernator]

Not sure why people are getting so upset, I agree it's a bit vulgar but Mclaren know there target market VERY well. There are only a small number of people who can afford to drop £2m plus on a car. Most of these will be more interested in this car as a statement of wealth, I am richer than you one-upmanship rather than how good a car it is. In fact I'm surprised they aren't offering a diamond encrusted option.

[Edmundo2]

My rant was a bit ott perhaps but I just think it's a shame that a brand like McLaren is prepared to resort to bling gimmicks...The F1 is still widely regarded as the high water mark amongst petrol heads due to its purity of design and lack of any embellishment that wasn't required for the ultimate driving experience.

I guess the petrol head they are now aiming at is a different sort of person.......

PS. You'll note that I stated in my previous post that I'm not suggesting all buyers with £2m are tasteless pricks. I meerly suggested the ones that spec the badge are ..

HighwayStar said:

Edmundo2 said:

How thoroughly depressing...The car itself might be amazing but it's the sort of stuff I barely pay any attention to nowadays as it's so unobtainable to most..

However whilst I can understand the car will appeal to a lucky few I just cannot tolerate the proposition of an 18 carat gold badge! I love the CanAm stuff of Bruce's heyday, the F1 cars of Sennas era, the Jewel that is Murray's F1. Indeed the current crop also appear to be fantastic too, ( although I'm starting to struggle to differentiate between models and getting a bit bored of it ). A strong heritage of technology, engineering, performance, etc etc etc - great.

But an 18 carat gold badge - for what?! It serves absolutely no purpose and to my mind at least has announced that McLaren have sold out and are now prepared to leave their roots behind and start building cars purely to appeal to the people with the biggest wallets. To appeal to these people Mclaren are prepared to design a product that features a pointless, unnecessary, vulgar trinket. The gold leaf in the F1s engine bay had a purpose. I suppose this badge does in a polar opposite kind of way. Form over function...

Unfortunately a number ,( not all I must stress ), of this demographic will be the completely out of touch c@#t briggade who love excess for excess sake and will lap it up. As such the cars will sell but is that all that matters to McLaren. Really?

I could almost understand them building a 4x4 to get the tills ringing in order to fund tomorrow's next super car. Provided it was a product that stuck to the companies principals and was a tech tour de force/study of efficiency etc then it could remain credible whilst doing a job to secure the companies financials..

Nailing gold bullion to the bonnet of your latest model for no reason other than to attract loaded wkers to buy your product...........That to me appears to be a poor direction to choose for a brand thats earned it's stripes pursuing excellence..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Thursday 18th October 21:58

All that whinging over a gold or platinum badge that's an option... not all wedged up people are about bling and the tasteless.

Sold out? What you are saying implies McLaren have abandoned the Sports and Super Series to make cars like the Speedtail. Like Pagani?
Loaded wkers... Hmmm. How do people get so angry?

[HighwayStar]

Edmundo2 said:

My rant was a bit ott perhaps but I just think it's a shame that a brand like McLaren is prepared to resort to bling gimmicks...The F1 is still widely regarded as the high water mark amongst petrol heads due to its purity of design and lack of any embellishment that wasn't required for the ultimate driving experience.

I guess the petrol head they are now aiming at is a different sort of person.......

PS. You'll note that I stated in my previous post that I'm not suggesting all buyers with £2m are tasteless pricks. I meerly suggested the ones that spec the badge are ..

HighwayStar said:

Edmundo2 said:

How thoroughly depressing...The car itself might be amazing but it's the sort of stuff I barely pay any attention to nowadays as it's so unobtainable to most..

However whilst I can understand the car will appeal to a lucky few I just cannot tolerate the proposition of an 18 carat gold badge! I love the CanAm stuff of Bruce's heyday, the F1 cars of Sennas era, the Jewel that is Murray's F1. Indeed the current crop also appear to be fantastic too, ( although I'm starting to struggle to differentiate between models and getting a bit bored of it ). A strong heritage of technology, engineering, performance, etc etc etc - great.

But an 18 carat gold badge - for what?! It serves absolutely no purpose and to my mind at least has announced that McLaren have sold out and are now prepared to leave their roots behind and start building cars purely to appeal to the people with the biggest wallets. To appeal to these people Mclaren are prepared to design a product that features a pointless, unnecessary, vulgar trinket. The gold leaf in the F1s engine bay had a purpose. I suppose this badge does in a polar opposite kind of way. Form over function...

Unfortunately a number ,( not all I must stress ), of this demographic will be the completely out of touch c@#t briggade who love excess for excess sake and will lap it up. As such the cars will sell but is that all that matters to McLaren. Really?

I could almost understand them building a 4x4 to get the tills ringing in order to fund tomorrow's next super car. Provided it was a product that stuck to the companies principals and was a tech tour de force/study of efficiency etc then it could remain credible whilst doing a job to secure the companies financials..

Nailing gold bullion to the bonnet of your latest model for no reason other than to attract loaded wkers to buy your product...........That to me appears to be a poor direction to choose for a brand thats earned it's stripes pursuing excellence..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Thursday 18th October 21:58

All that whinging over a gold or platinum badge that's an option... not all wedged up people are about bling and the tasteless.

Sold out? What you are saying implies McLaren have abandoned the Sports and Super Series to make cars like the Speedtail. Like Pagani?
Loaded wkers... Hmmm. How do people get so angry?

Fair enough... someone with more money than they know what to do with... gold badge on Speedtail, Swarovski crystal on the S Class headlights... just tumble weed moments to me. You and I wouldn't do it but it doesn't necessarily make them pricks. Plenty of those out there with no money whatsoever.

Moving on...

[Edmundo2]

Agreed.

My disappointment was more with McLaren for even creating the option....

Moved on...

HighwayStar said:

Edmundo2 said:

My rant was a bit ott perhaps but I just think it's a shame that a brand like McLaren is prepared to resort to bling gimmicks...The F1 is still widely regarded as the high water mark amongst petrol heads due to its purity of design and lack of any embellishment that wasn't required for the ultimate driving experience.

I guess the petrol head they are now aiming at is a different sort of person.......

PS. You'll note that I stated in my previous post that I'm not suggesting all buyers with £2m are tasteless pricks. I meerly suggested the ones that spec the badge are ..

HighwayStar said:

Edmundo2 said:

How thoroughly depressing...The car itself might be amazing but it's the sort of stuff I barely pay any attention to nowadays as it's so unobtainable to most..

However whilst I can understand the car will appeal to a lucky few I just cannot tolerate the proposition of an 18 carat gold badge! I love the CanAm stuff of Bruce's heyday, the F1 cars of Sennas era, the Jewel that is Murray's F1. Indeed the current crop also appear to be fantastic too, ( although I'm starting to struggle to differentiate between models and getting a bit bored of it ). A strong heritage of technology, engineering, performance, etc etc etc - great.

But an 18 carat gold badge - for what?! It serves absolutely no purpose and to my mind at least has announced that McLaren have sold out and are now prepared to leave their roots behind and start building cars purely to appeal to the people with the biggest wallets. To appeal to these people Mclaren are prepared to design a product that features a pointless, unnecessary, vulgar trinket. The gold leaf in the F1s engine bay had a purpose. I suppose this badge does in a polar opposite kind of way. Form over function...

Unfortunately a number ,( not all I must stress ), of this demographic will be the completely out of touch c@#t briggade who love excess for excess sake and will lap it up. As such the cars will sell but is that all that matters to McLaren. Really?

I could almost understand them building a 4x4 to get the tills ringing in order to fund tomorrow's next super car. Provided it was a product that stuck to the companies principals and was a tech tour de force/study of efficiency etc then it could remain credible whilst doing a job to secure the companies financials..

Nailing gold bullion to the bonnet of your latest model for no reason other than to attract loaded wkers to buy your product...........That to me appears to be a poor direction to choose for a brand thats earned it's stripes pursuing excellence..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Thursday 18th October 21:58

All that whinging over a gold or platinum badge that's an option... not all wedged up people are about bling and the tasteless.

Sold out? What you are saying implies McLaren have abandoned the Sports and Super Series to make cars like the Speedtail. Like Pagani?
Loaded wkers... Hmmm. How do people get so angry?

Fair enough... someone with more money than they know what to do with... gold badge on Speedtail, Swarovski crystal on the S Class headlights... just tumble weed moments to me. You and I wouldn't do it but it doesn't necessarily make them pricks. Plenty of those out there with no money whatsoever.

Moving on...

[Maldini35]

Rich_W said:

Maldini35 said:

It’ll be more than just a modified tub. A 3 seater with central driving position will needs an all new tub - safety regs, getting in and out, crash testing mean you can’t take a 720 tub and just drill a few extra holes for the pedals to go in the middle.

BTW You know nothing about crash testing or type approval.

Maldini35 said:

We don’t know much about the engine yet but a v8 with a new hybrid system has been mentioned by Mike Flewitt.

So P1 LM running gear then

Maldini35 said:

All clothed in a brand new slippery body.
So that’s a new chassis/carbon tub, new hybrid engine system and new body.
Apart from that, it’s the same as all the other McLarens.

McLaren simply don't have the money to make an 100% new car. That's not a criticism. But it does explain why we see certain large components and parts over and over. For example BMW spent $800M for the 7. VW estimated $1.2BILLION for the Mk5 Golf!

Easy tiger! I wasn't spoiling for a fight.

The pic you attached was a Frankenstein mule for development testing according to the Top Gear article. The interior looks a right mess and it certainly isn't Type Approved. (thanks for letting me know what I do and don't know about BTW )
As regards the drivetrain, Flewitt talked of an 'all new' hybrid system so hopefully not just a repeat of the P1LM (if we take his word for it).
I also wasn't saying it would be a 100% new car.
Partly because I couldn't possibly know that and partly because, as you say, McLaren is a relatively small company and will need to use some existing bits all be it further developed.
That said, I reckon a new tub, new body and new hybrid system feel like more than just a modified P1.
But I could be wrong of course.
We won't know for sure until all the details are revealed, I just thought it was a bit premature to write it off without knowing the facts - that's all

[dobly]

^ how big are those mirror housings?

[GranCab]

Badges badges ? We don't need no stinking badges .... Blazing Saddles 1974.

[TooMany2cvs]

But how much will the optional badges be? We need to know.