Well said! I think the 720S is absolutely gorgeous. Most of the people saying it's ugly have never seen it in person. I've driven it hundreds of miles already and even in a color scheme I didn't love (McLaren Orange with carbon hood) I still thought it was immensely beautiful and if they would have sold the prototype to me, even though it had manual power seats, no HomeLink and the low-end stereo (all things I'd upgrade) I still would have bought it on the spot! Not only is it beautiful but it's an absolutely amazing car to drive! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's not what we are saying at all. In fact, it's the opposite. What we are saying is let designers design and not be a slave to silly "aero" crap that screws up the looks. Designers today are just as talented as those 50 years ago. Yes, the cars have a gazillion more restrictions and the markets change but raw talent and style still can be used to design cars today. And, this idea that the next car "must" go faster than the one it replaces or a competitor car is a losing game. For every MPH you need to add, the cost goes up significantly and other factors come into play. FOR WHAT PURPOSE????? Seriously -- if you pick Car A because it goes 210 over Car B because it goes "only 200", you're crazy. What's the point? What are you going to do with that extra 10 MPH? Stop the ridiculous aero junk and concentrate on what looks great and goes plenty fast enough for 95% of the people out there. After all, 95% of the people won't take it over 120 MPH anyway. There's a Pagani Zonda R in a showroom in London with delivery miles on it having never left the showroom. It's been sold 4 times already. What's the point?
I don't care about the 95% I just care about me Seriously all this talk of art is simply hilarious. A car is meant to be driven not hung on a wall. And not everything I buy needs to be art. I don't have an artistic lawn mower, or artistic refrigerator.. And the car is not 'ugly'. Ugly is a strong word. Anyone who thinks its ugly has a very wide interpretation of ugly and I truly feel sorry for you as the world must be one big ugly place. Most of us have different cars for different tasks. If I'm off roading in Baja, I take my Ford Raptor. If I'm going snowboarding I take my Porsche Cayenne. If I'm going grocery shopping I take my 911 Turbo And if I'm going to take a road trip across the NV/UT desert and carve some canyons along the way, I want the 720S.
Jealous Not a fan of the carbon hoods, it always reminds me back when I was in high school building franken-cars from spare parts. We never painted anything, all the money went into clutches
I hope they succeed to keep the pressure on other manufacturers to keep pushing the envelope. I'm personally not a fan of multi colored schemes, but I hope I like it in person. I didn't think the LaF looked great in photos, but in person the lines look fantastic. Something a camera can't capture.
I love the McLaren fanboy posts that always talk as those what they say is gospel--LOL. You should read their forum (some here know too well as they are their major posters). It's their way or the highway--hopefully not indicative of owners as a whole. I certainly can appreciate the 720--think it's good looking. But also believe it will tank like every other McLarens (no one can be assured otherwise at this point). Some say it doesn't matter--to me it does. Yes, I get it depreciation happens to all--got it. But that brand is the kind of it from facts out there. So will take my $300k elsewhere... Simple--no right or wrong, just my opinion and my $$$.
First of all the prices for every McLaren did not "tank". The P1 has appreciated considerably, the MSO HS has appreciated considerably and I sold my 675LT coupe with 2,200 miles on it for $20K more than I paid. From what I hear 570S is doing well in resale too. So in fact the majority of the models did not "tank". Having driven the 720S hundreds of miles over 4 days this past week I'm certain it is going to get amazing reviews further cementing their quickly improving reputation brought on by great reviews for 675LT and 570S/GT. It is going to be in very high demand and it's clearly better than anything the competition has to offer right now with lots of sexy features that differentiate it from the others. I drove a 488 a few weeks ago and I can tell you that 720S is a much, much bigger leap over 650S than 488 is over 458. In many ways it's a good sized leap over 675LT as well. In addition McLaren now has two great product lines that are $100K apart and a clearly define cadence of coupe, spider, LT coupe, LT spider, special edition(s) over a 5-6 year period - very similar to what Ferrari does - and they're adding more dealerships. So the cars they can produce will get spread out among more models meaning no one model will drown the market. That was certainly a problem when they only had one model and especially one model line. They're a far more mature company now and it's only been about 6 years since they brought their first car to the market! There have been lots of growing pains for sure, and they crawled a little bit longer than they had hoped but they're clearly on solid legs now. So I think your prediction is going to turn out to be wrong.
If the 720 is just too much for some of the posters in this thread perhaps there still is a Mclaren that'll suit you. Harken back to the good 'ol days.......before you even had a drivers licence. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mark- Curious. Why would you upgrade the manual seats? Is the added expense and weight worth it? I mean I'm the only one that drives my cars so adjusting the seat isn't necessary. Isnt that one area where one can save some weight and bucks? Thanks. Oh and the 720 looks very nice in your photos. I like the orange but not the cf hood.
Mark: I truly respect your opinion but lets face it, this is no limited production "P1". McLaren will do what it has always done --- ship cars to the US without buyers. After 2 months on the showroom floor they will be discounted or shuffled off to another dealer to make it look like it was sold. When the model year changes unsold inventory will be discounted again. All cars depreciate. But when you get close to $100 a mile it gets pretty hard to accept. We have seen Mac's lose 100 grand off MSRP in one year on many occasions before. But, in a lot of cases, those cars never sold at MSRP anyway which drove down resale prices. I hope Mac makes it. We need innovation and someone to push the envelope. I think they push it technically but not stylistically, but that's my impression. Frankly, I don't see them making it. After Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini I'm not sure McLaren brings enough for a sports car buyer to need to pass over those brands. There are people like you and others here who want to buy engineering prowess. But a lot of people just want a pretty exotic, which is why Ferrari sells so many of them. My advice to them is simple: Make prettier cars that still go fast. And, make all your cars more different looking from one another.
The electric seats include seat heating and memory function (for seats, steering wheel and mirrors). They also work with "comfort entry" which means when you open the driver's door the seats push back and the steering wheel pushes in an up to give you easier entry/exit. When you get back in the car you pull the menu stalk toward you and the seat & steering wheel returns to their previous position. So even if you're the only driver this is still a very convenient feature. I think the extra few pounds and extra dollars are worth it for the every-day convenience feature and having heated seats for cold days. If want genuine weight reduction you'd get the carbon racing buckets, which are always manual adjust anyway. I'm not a big fan of the color or the CF hood. But the car was so amazing to drive that I would have bought it anyway if they had been willing to leave it with me. McLaren Orange color doesn't photograph well and it's very, very bright but it was starting to grow on me.
I agree with much of what you say but not this. Mclaren will absolutely make it. Their cars while depreciating magnets, are pretty and pretty fast. There is room for another in this segment and I applaud Mclaren for hoping the ante. But having said that, you are spot on about the depreciation. No reason to believe the 720 won't follow a similar pattern to the 12c and 650. The 650s is a 330k sticker car. They are going for under 200k now for the coupes. 720 is better but not sure by how much.
I like the Mclaren orange. But not with the cf hood and I wish the c pillars were body color. I think it would look much nicer.
A lot of ppl think depreciation on 12c's and 650s is simple because McLaren produce too many cars. And to a small extent thats not far off as brand recognition is not there. But the real reason is too few dealerships. So when they sent over 100 cars each dealer had like 10 cars on the lot. Opening a dealership is very expensive on both sides and doesn't happen overnight. That has changed significantly over the last year which is as amazing as how far the cars have come (technically) over the last 5 years.
How many dealerships are there now? Anyone know how many Ferrari dealers? Ferrari goal is to sell 8000 cars a year I believe. Mclaren is 3500? Not sure. Just asking.
I have driven an F-1 for about 10 miles. I also rode in one from Monaco to Saint-Tropez. I am 6'3" and I was crammed into the driver's seat and incredibly uncomfortable. It was very hard to get into the driver's seat. The owner of the car had the seat fixed (I guess he did it, because I could not move it). The owner of the car was 5'9". I never got above 130 MPH, but it was mind-bending acceleration to 130. While in the passenger seat, it was incredibly uncomfortable and loud. The driver had a headphone and intercom system--like a helicopter. That day was the only time I have been in an F-1, but it was thrilling. I could afford it, I'd love to have one, in spite of the drawbacks.
The F1 was always the white buffalo for me. Been chasing it for 20 years. Always too expensive. I sat in the 1995 le mans winning car, on race day. Its a memory I will not forget. You'll find JJ hanging around a McLaren venue and he's a delight to talk to. I sat with him for an hour at Pebble beach last year, gave me some racing advice, was truly special. As also Kenny Brach, Gordon Murray, Brunno Senna and even Jensen Button (we talked about F40s he just got his). Its such a fantastic car group.
