We can expect more than the SLR from the continuing partnership between McLaren and Mercedes-Benz, including the once-scuttled P8 supercar that gained a reprieve last year (“Not So Fast, McLaren P8 Supercar Back on Track,” April 11, 2005).
That’s the clear message from McLaren director Martin Whitmarsh on the state of his company’s relationship with partner and 40 percent shareholder Mercedes-Benz. Whitmarsh spoke at the recent rollout of the new MP4-21 race car at the Barcelona Grand Prix circuit in Spain.
“The level of interest in McLaren from Mercedes-Benz is higher than it has ever been,” Whitmarsh said. “There is a clear commitment to be in F1 in the long term and refreshed interest in road car activities. I think it is increasingly likely there will be a range of sports cars in Woking [McLaren’s manufacturing headquarters] in the future.”
Speculation in recent months was that cost-cutting by Mercedes’ newly installed boss Dieter Zetsche might eventually lead to the end of the McLaren-Mercedes partnership that began in 1995 when Mercedes began supplying engines for McLaren’s F1 team.
A Mercedes spokesperson refused to confirm Whitmarsh’s claim, but said a decision on the German carmaker’s commitment to McLaren would be made public soon. Word around Mercedes headquarters in Stuttgart is that Zetsche is keen to use McLaren to showcase Mercedes’ technology.
The first of the new joint-venture models expected to reach production is the mid-engine P8 supercar, partly developed by McLaren but placed on hold by former Mercedes boss Eckhard Cordes as part of a cost-cutting program early last year. Stuttgart insiders say the car is back in Mercedes’ future model program, with a launch expected in 2008.
Based around a unique carbon fiber monocoque manufactured by McLaren, the P8 originally was slated to get AMG’s new 6.3-liter, 510-hp V8 engine unveiled at last year’s Frankfurt motor show. However, our sources say P8 may now be in line to receive an even more powerful AMG 6.0-liter, 600-hp-plus turbocharged V8.
McLaren, Mercedes P8 road car project at full boil
