McLAREN V2.0

McLaren’s first decade was a whirlwind of super and hypercars, highs and lows, and endless special editions. Now the Artura’s here to start the next chapter

- HENRY CATCHPOLE

LARRY KING, THE MUCH-CELEBRATED broadcaster who died in January, famously said: ‘I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So, if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.’ Now, listening is

not something that supercar companies are famous for. While the Fords and Kias might put a lot of effort into market research and customer surveys, you expect Ferrari to simply invoke the spirit of old man Enzo and tell people what their heart desires. On a scale of one to five, five being completely satisfied, how would you rate the ergonomics of your dashboard? A question put to people by Peugeot, perhaps, but likely not Pagani.

I recall there was an element of this almost-condescending conviction when McLaren launched the MP4-12C. Journalists were very much told, sometimes by Ron Dennis himself, why the McLaren way was the right way. If you disagreed, well, there were usually numbers to prove you wrong.

Part of me admires and even commends this approach. Not everything should be put to a vote or aim to please the majority. That way blandness often lies. We desire the inspired and even the flawed, because they make the world more interesting. Product innovation should give you something that you didn’t know you needed, but subsequently can’t imagine living without.

All of which brings me to a small, subterranean theatre in the bowels of the grandly named Thought Leadership Centre at McLaren HQ in Woking. It is dimly lit and an archetypal mid-engined supercar shape lurks under a cover on the stage. A presentation about the new car is underway and what’s caught my attention is not the power figure nor an acceleration time, but the fact that McLaren has said it has listened.