McLaren, nowadays, is not just the storied British motor racing brand that is currently both the second-oldest active Formula One team and also the second most successful F1 participant, after Ferrari. It has also been a veritable luxury and exotic automaker for some time already.
Speaking of McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars before 2010), the company headquartered at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England was established in late 1985 with the sole purpose of delivering some of the world’s greatest supercars. And its original effort, the McLaren F1 of 1992, was one for the ages, which is maybe one of the main reasons why the brand only released its next model almost two decades later, in 2011.
Alas, once the MP4-12C (later shortened to a more logical 12C) got going, the three-tier product strategy was quickly set in motion, as well, from 2015. The division of model ranges included the Sports, Super, and Ultimate Series (now also the solo GT, their first-ever grand tourer based on the 720S), so it is only logical that sales quickly took flight. And the lineup grew tremendously with stuff like the 570S and its many derivatives (540C, 600LT, 620R, spiders, GT4), the new Artura (aka their new base hybrid sports car), the 650S series and its siblings, the current 720S (and bonkers 765LT, plus GT3 and spiders) when thinking only about the first two tiers.
Meanwhile, hype, pride, and high profits were racked with the P1, Senna, Elva, Solus GT, or Speedtail, of course. But the exotic manufacturer still cannot compete with other luxury powerhouses that love to dabble with sportiness as well. Look at Bentley, Lamborghini, or Ferrari, and to a lesser extent even at Aston Martin, for example. And all four of them have something cool in common – they were not afraid to grow out of their sector’s boundaries and try new things, such as the ultra-luxury super-SUV party, among others.
Now, Bentley, Lambo, and even Aston Martin have CUVs as their most popular offerings, and for good measure. After all, the CUV, SUV, and truck madness has swept across the automotive industry and even luxury brands are not safe from it, ever since Porsche decided back in 2002 that high riders can try to be as nimble as sports cars on and off the world’s streets and tracks.
Photo: Kolesa / Instagram
From there, everything spiraled out of control and one by one in recent years, most sports car manufacturers have given up tradition and entered the fast-growing crossover sector. So, now there is no surprise that Bentley’s Bentayga, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, the Lambo Urus, and even the Aston Martin DBX707 get trumped by upcoming promises like the 715-hp V12 Ferrari Purosangue coach door CUV or the 738-hp PHEV BMW XM Label Red SUV! What about McLaren? Well, ever since taking over, the new boss, Michael Leiters, who was involved in the making of the Porsche Cayenne and Ferrari Purosangue, has whispered in soft voice hints of crossover SUV and electric sedan action to the rumor mill’s ears.
Well, of course, those crossover SUVs are part of a “very attractive segment,” and obviously the bonkers Tesla Model S Plaid has shown that electric sedans do not necessarily need to be boring when running down the quarter-mile dragstrip and laying waste among ICE-powered rivals. As such, no wonder that even the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has started taking notice of the fresh McLaren possibilities, thus dreaming of both electric sedans and feisty ultra-luxury super-SUVs. However, most of them thought them to be of a separate powertrain nature, with the latter remaining an ICE-powered hotness. That line of thought ends now, though, at least as far as the good folks over at Kolesa are concerned.
The news outlet has decided to try and jump the digital gun ahead of McLaren’s introduction of its first-ever crossover SUV and wanted to allegedly make it an EV that would presumably duke it out with the Tesla Model X (Plaid) instead of the ICE-powered establishment (Urus, DBX707, Cullinan, Bentayga, Purosangue, XM, etc.) to try and attain its level of high-riding glory. As per the company’s curvy tradition, the hypothetical McLaren SUV has been equipped with sweeping lines and a bit of edgy contrasting details. Interestingly, the crossover SUV allure kind of reminds us of the Porsche Macan – but maybe that is just the CGI playing tricks on our minds because the British CUV would have to be much larger to contend in the mid- or even full-size segment with the rest of the ritzy foes.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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