The McLaren GT works well on paper. The market for fast, luxurious Grand Tourers is several times larger than the one for supercars. That makes it an appealing area of growth for McLaren - a company which has resolved to not enter the SUV market. All that it needed was a car to fit the luggage-carrying, continent-crossing mould. That, in a nutshell, is the new GT.
Overcoming the virtues of the similarly badged Bentley is high on the new model’s to-do list. The two-door Continental is not just Crewe's biggest-selling car, but also the tip of its spear when it comes to brand desirability. All that makes the Bentley way brilliant, is contained within.
Things were never going to be so clear cut for McLaren’s GT. It looks like a supercar, and is built upon the platform of one. It also powered by a turbocharged V8 that Woking always intended to drive a supercar. Its maker says that it has tweaked all these variables to make them Grand Tourer appropriate. We sent Dan P along to the south of France to grade its success...