- A + A print
Home > Motoring > Motoring News > 2011 News >  

Big Mac lands in Oz!


Big Mac lands in Oz!

Author: Trent NikolicDate: 5 May 2011

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) seemed a fitting location for automotive art to be released to the Australian motoring press. And that’s exactly where Australia got its first in the flesh look at the brand spanking new McLaren MP4-12C.

With the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge a stone’s throw away, Australia got it’s first taste of the successor to what became an automotive icon not long after its release.

Just as important as the launch of the vehicle itself was the news that Trivett will be the fully fledged dealer for the model in this country. It’s one thing to have a supercar to sell, it’s another thing to have a multi-brand, premium dealer to sell it for you.

As you’ve no doubt read, the high point of this technical powerhouse is the revolutionary one piece, carbon fibre chassis, known as the carbon MonoCell. It marks the first time a road car has featured a one-piece, carbon-fibre structure. It’s a strong and lightweight engineering solution that arrives with the McLaren road car thanks largely to the company's work in the ultra competitive area of F1 Racing.

 
The MP4-12C is powered by a bespoke McLaren 3.8-litre, twin turbo V8 engine which produces somewhere near a head kicking 600hp. While the outright power number isn’t as stratospheric as some, the overall weight of this car is so much less than most cars of its ilk, the performance will be hair raising.

All that power is worked through a 7-speed, Seamless Shift dual clutch gearbox and McLaren is claiming that the new engine is more efficient in terms of CO2 emissions than a hybrid.

McLaren claims there are over 3,000 interested parties wanting one, and it seems, at this stage at least, only a tick over 1,000 will be built worldwide. So if you were wondering about the exclusivity of the vehicle, there's your answer.

Signifcant interest has already been registered in Australia and McLaren expect the car to be well received here. Trivett will have a demo car by September or October this year, with the car officially available for sale some time in November.

Whichever way you cut it, the 12C is an awesome example of technological mastery and goes to show what happens when a race car company turns its attention to the road. Once we get behind the wheel, we’ll let you know exactly how good it is.

 

Tags:

, News

Car Reviews

Make
Model
Year
Review type

Join thousands of others following NRMA

  • rss

    RSS

  • rss

    Twitter