Thank goodness one exotic carmaker has a connection to this region.
Because of it, I got to thrash a trio of McLarens, including the furious 750S.
“A McLaren is special because we’re really the only brand that’s a race team that produces vehicles for the road,” Nicolas Brown, president of McLaren, the Americas, told me.
“Don’t be intimidated by the looks. It really is a very driver-friendly car,” he added.
At the same time, the 750S is described in McLaren’s media materials as “the lightest and most powerful series-production McLaren” and “unashamedly a supercar for the purist.”
My drive on an empty industrial tarmac went much like this:
ZOOOOOOOOOM!
(Mild expletives/slight blaspheming)
Once I had composed myself a bit, I added:
“There was a second there where I thought, “Oh, I’ve got this,’ and then it just kept turning on more and more power… it’s like we’ve been strapped to a lightning bolt.”
I also drove the (ever-so-slightly) more sedate GTS and Artura models.
McLaren describes the GTS as “engineered to delight drivers who demand the dynamic excellence and driving excitement of a McLaren and the ride comfort, refinement and luggage space suited to routine drives and extended journeys.”
The British company calls the hybrid Artura a “next-generation supercar” meant to “deliver the highest levels of dynamic performance…as well as meeting the requirements of regular driving and offering the near-silent electric-drive that is beneficial in urban environments.”
A 750S coupe (I drove the convertible) has a total recommended starting MSRP of $367,400. For the GTS, that number is $323,200, while it’s $262,700 for the Artura. Those numbers can shoot up faster than, well, a McLaren, when you factor in options.
As for that regional tie-in, McLaren relies on the Baltimore area as part of the importing process.
Soon, Baltimore County will be home to a “state-of-the-art” vehicle processing center for the automaker, where workers will prepare the supercars to be shipped to 26 dealerships across the U.S.
