Manufacturers  /  McLaren

McLaren

Woking, England · est. 1985

The carbon tub is the constant; the F1 sets the hierarchy.

Models
16
Top value
€20M
Period
1985–
Explore modelsManufacturer profile
McLaren — manufacturer stage

Curated entry points

The essential McLarens

Three cars that explain the manufacturer: its origins, its engineering peak and the shape of its modern ambition.

1992–1998

F1

Carbon tub, central seat, BMW V12 — the benchmark.

Collectibility
99 / 100
Indicative value
€20M
2013–2015

P1

The hybrid halo — 916 hp, 375 built, carbon everywhere.

Collectibility
94 / 100
Indicative value
€1.5M
1995–1996

F1 LM

Five road cars built to celebrate the Le Mans win.

Collectibility
98 / 100
Indicative value
€25M

Complete catalogue

Every McLaren on file

16 models · 4 families

F1

4

The car that defined McLaren. A carbon-tub, central-seat, BMW-V12 road car that held the production speed record for years — and every racing version it spawned.

Ultimate Series

8

Woking’s flagship line — small-series technology showcases, from the hybrid P1 to the track-only Solus GT. Each one a deliberate, numbered statement of what McLaren can do.

Super Series

1

Woking's volume line — the family the LTs and specials grow from. The 720S rebuilt it around the Monocage II upper cage and a four-litre V8 that beat its own numbers.

Longtail (LT)

3

Lighter, sharper, more focused versions of the core cars — the LT badge revives the F1 GTR “Longtail” name for limited, track-leaning specials sold in Coupé and Spider form.

The house

The carbon tub is the constant; the F1 sets the hierarchy.

McLaren Cars began as a Formula 1 team’s road-car side project, and it shows in the engineering. Gordon Murray’s 1992 F1 set the template: a carbon-fibre monocoque, a central driving seat and a naturally aspirated BMW V12, with nothing added for comfort that hurt the lap time.

For a decade the F1 stood alone as the fastest road car in the world. When Woking returned to series production with MP4-12C in 2011, it carried the same idea forward — a carbon tub under every car, from the volume models up to the hybrid P1.

That lineage is what the market chases. An F1 sets the ceiling; the Ultimate Series halo cars and the limited Longtail specials trade on the same carbon-tub bloodline and the same single-minded focus on speed.

Founded
1985
The active UK road-car company was incorporated on 2 December as TAG McLaren Research & Development and became McLaren Cars in 1989.
F1 production
106 cars
McLaren gives 106 examples across all F1 versions; 64 were standard road-specification cars.
Carbon structure
Every series car since 2011
The 12C's one-piece MonoCell reduced chassis manufacture from about 4,000 hours for an F1 tub to four hours.
Public auction high
$25.32 million
A McLaren-updated 1994 F1 sold for $25,317,500 at RM Sotheby's Abu Dhabi sale in December 2025.

Selected milestones

A bloodline, not a list.

  1. 1985

    The road-car company is incorporated

    The company now trading as McLaren Automotive is incorporated as TAG McLaren Research & Development.

  2. 1992

    The F1 is unveiled

    McLaren's first series road car combines a central driving position, a BMW Motorsport V12 and the first carbon-fibre monocoque used for a production road car.

  3. 1995

    A road-derived car wins Le Mans

    On McLaren's first entry at the 24 Hours, the F1 GTR wins overall and four examples finish in the top five.

  4. 2011

    MonoCell makes carbon repeatable

    The 12C returns McLaren to series road-car production with a one-piece carbon tub made at regular production cadence.

  5. 2013

    P1 integrates hybrid performance

    The P1 combines a twin-turbo V8 with electric assistance and active aerodynamics in a road-car run capped at 375.

  6. 2015

    Longtail becomes a road-car line

    The 675LT transfers the weight, aerodynamic and chassis changes of the 1997 Longtail programme to a series road car.

What defines McLaren

Carbon structure on every series car

Since the 12C, MonoCell and its derivatives have formed the basis of every series-production McLaren road car.

Remove weight component by component

LT programmes change materials, glazing, seats, exhausts and suspension before treating added output as the answer.

Give derivatives a separate brief

GTR and LT versions alter aerodynamics, cooling, chassis calibration and use case; the badges denote changed engineering, not equipment packs.

The hands

Who drew and built the McLaren files

One name in the register stands behind this manufacturer. Their own file follows the work wherever it went.

The whole register of people

The mark

A kiwi, taught to go fast.

1964: motorsport artist Michael Turner draws a shield for his friend Bruce McLaren’s young racing team — a kiwi, for New Zealand. In 1971 Doug Eyre flattens the bird into the speedy kiwi: head down, feet trailing, a silhouette drawn for velocity in the team’s new papaya orange.

1981 replaced the bird entirely: Raymond Loewy’s chevrons — a sponsor’s gift, the chequered flag abstracted — for the new McLaren International. The 1997 speedmark that survives today carries no public credit; the company likens it to the vortices off a rear wing. The bird is gone. The speed stayed.

Michael Turner, 1964 · Doug Eyre, 1971 · Raymond Loewy, 1981 — the 1997 speedmark is uncredited

McLaren crest, 1964–1970

1964–1970

Turner’s shield for his friend Bruce: a kiwi for New Zealand.

McLaren crest, 1971–1980

1971–1980

Eyre’s speedy kiwi — head down, drawn for velocity.

McLaren crest, 1981–1990

1981–1990

Loewy’s chevrons: a sponsor’s gift, the chequered flag abstracted.

McLaren crest, 1997–2003

1997–2003

The speedmark arrives — vortices off a rear wing, author unrecorded.

2012–

Monochrome since 2012 — the speedmark alone carries it. Shown in today’s cut.