McLaren is officially coming to India

It’s raining supercars, as British performance car maker McLaren Automotive joins ranks with the likes of Lamborghini and Porsche to have its own independent subsidiary in India. In the past few months, McLaren’s become quite a buzz word in India, with Formula 2 racing driver Jehan Daruvala testing last year’s McLaren F1 car and actor Kartik Aryan being gifted a McLaren GT from his movie producer.

But McLaren’s been a household name for years now. With many iconic track and road cars to its name, along with an illustrious history in the world of Formula One, the Woking-based brand is one of the very few carmakers, whose entire line-up consists of mid-engined, track-bred performance cars. No grand tourers or performance SUVs for this brand. In fact, the McLaren GT is one of the friendliest road cars produced by the brand, which explains why it’s one of the first models to be retailed in India. At present Mclaren is set to retain the GT, the 720s, the Artura Hybrid and McLaren 765 LT coupe (and Spyder) in the country. With its first retail outlet set to open in Mumbai in October, here’s a closer look at some of McLaren’s greatest hits

1. McLaren F1 (1991)

Designed by the legendary F1 designer Gordon Murray, the F1, as its name suggests was a barely-legal racing car, packing Formula One technology. A mid-engined, thoroughbred, the F1 has since its launch in 1991, been purchased and crashed by many-a-celebrity (Rowan Atkinson and a certain Elon Musk being two of them) because it does not suffer fools. Today, these go for over $15 million in the classic car market, so you might want to be gentle with the throttle.

2. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (2003)

Born of a short-lived alliance with Mercedes-Benz, the SLR McLaren was that rare breed of front-engined GT cars carrying the McLaren name. Once again, it was designed by the great Gordon Murray who wasn’t too happy about the outcome because the car wasn’t exactly an exercise in minimalism, unlike the purist’s dream that was the F1. Regardless of his reservations, the SLR has gone on to become one of the most iconic grand tourers in history with a sensational design language that continues to enthrall two decades after it was introduced.

3. McLaren P1 (2013)