McLaren’s lineup is exclusively made up of two-seater sports cars, but the British firm is open to the idea of launching a more family-friendly model to take on the Ferrari GTC4Lusso and Porsche’s brand new second-generation Panamera.
While executives aren’t firmly committed to offering a car with more than two seats, engineers are already looking at what could be done if the project gets the green light for production. One option is building a longer version of an existing car, such as the 570GT (pictured), with a 2+2 seating layout. Interestingly, a second option is adopting a staggered 1+2 seating arrangement that would place the driver front and center, and a passenger on either side.
The 1+2 layout isn’t new to the brand. Enthusiasts will remember that the iconic F1, the very first road-going McLaren, featured a single front seat and a steering wheel mounted in the middle of the dash. The setup greatly improved visibility, and it allowed McLaren to save money by building a single version of the F1 for both right- and left-hand drive markets.
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Rivals Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and Bentley are quickly moving into the growing super-SUV segment. While super-SUVs are lucrative and in hot demand, McLaren has made it clear that it doesn’t plan on getting a piece of the pie.
“What we know is that today we build, I would argue, the world’s best two-seater, mid-engine sports car. That’s what we’re known for and that’s what our strength is. That’s what our DNA is and that’s what our customers ask us for.” explained Duncan Forrester, McLaren’s global communications manager, in an interview with Australian website Motoring. “Today, and as far into the future as we can realistically predict, customers aren’t going to be coming to McLaren and saying ‘what I really want is one of these cars, but raised up about a foot.'”
