Mercedes and McLaren are planning to sell as many as 2000 “SLS” sports cars a year to rival the likes of the Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo and the V10 version of Audi’s R8, according to the insiders at Brenda Priddy & Company. Although McLaren engineers are remaining tight-lipped about the project, sources say feasibility studies are currently being carried out on the car at one of Mercedes’ secret test centers in Germany.
McLaren is hoping to use carbon fiber construction for the new car, although there are doubts about the economic viability of using the material for a car with a projected price tag of about 150,000 Euros.
Sources wouldn't be budged on whether the new car, thought to be code-named P8, will have a three-seat arrangement similar to that of the F1, but equally our source doggedly refused to confirm the new car as a conventional two-seater. One possibility is that the third seat would be mounted centrally towards the rear, the reverse of the F1's layout. It will be mid-engined though, partly to make it distinct from the front-engined Mercedes SLR McLaren. Gallery after the jump…
Seems the McLaren Mercedes split was a bit overplayed. Granted with the rumors of Ron Dennis selling his stake in McLaren to Mercedes I’m not surprised.
Hot looking car, but unfortunate, I had hopes for McLaren remaining as one of the true independents
Interesting exhaust outlets. Its gunna be funny to see over 100,000 dollar car to have a soot covered ass end. And the whole seat idea sounds stupid. The whole reason for having a center seat is weight balance and safety. What the fuck is the point of having a center mounted back seat. Just takes up more room for no reason. The F1 layout is the better way to go. Thats one of their secrets to make the car crash legal is that crush structure on each side. The car is so low that in side impact and offset crashes the bumperes of most cars were at or above the window line where there is no strength. Easy way to not have to engineer millions of dollars in crash reseach and modifications is to put your driver in the middle.
You have to realize the real car will look nothing like that. That sketch was done to give you something to look at while reading the article… I doubt its based upon anything factual…
Well, hopefully since this is carbon fiber it won’t feel like other Mercs. Or new BMW’s for that matter.
Or maybe that new 1-series 3 door will be light and have a steering wheel that feels connected to the front wheels. Yow. Sign me up for the diesel before it becomes a heifer like its big brother.