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Video: McLaren P1 vs Senna vs Elva vs Artura
McLaren’s Ultimate Series are its rarest, most extreme and expensive models – Rory drives them back to back with its latest hybrid Artura
Words by: Auto Trader
Published on 16 October 2023 | 0 min read
McLaren’s founder Bruce McLaren may have originated in New Zealand, but he recognised that to succeed the company bearing his name needed to be based where he could recruit the best engineers and drivers in the world. That turned out to be here in the UK, McLaren gathering the best of the best around him to create the cars that carried him and many others to podiums, race wins and championship titles in F1, at Le Mans and in motorsport the world over.
Bruce himself tragically died testing one of his own racing cars back in 1970, but his spirit lives on in the company he created. And, most of all, in the cars carrying his name. Here Rory gathers together some of the most spectacular of its recent hits, putting them into context against the gamechanging F1 of 1992 and the latest plug-in hybrid Artura. Buckle up, it’s quite the ride… Common to the cars created by Bruce himself back in the day, and in those you can buy now, is a restless sense of innovation to push boundaries of technology, aerodynamics and power. McLaren’s early years were all about racing, and after a difficult few years the F1 team seems to be back where it belongs at the front of the pack. The road cars take the essence of this racing pedigree and turn it into something you can appreciate on the road as well as the track. Take the P1, the hybrid hypercar that completed the so-called holy trinity of incredible cars that, a decade ago, re-wrote the rulebook. Alongside the incredible LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder they added an electric boost to already incredible horsepower, the McLaren inevitably going one step further with its F1-inspired aero and shape-shifting ability to switch from road car to track slayer at the press of a button. As Rory discovers, the Senna that followed – named after one of McLaren’s most legendary drivers - went a totally different direction, with wild wings and the ferocious, stripped back savagery of a proper racing car. And the Elva? Well, that turns out to be otherwise sensible McLaren letting its hair down and going wild. Bringing us full circle, to the electrified Artura and McLaren’s first mainstream hybrid. It may not have the all-out power and prestige of the Ultimate Series cars above. But, as Rory discovers, a common spirit runs through all of them. And, for this new generation car, this is just the start. Getting all these cars in one place at the same time is an incredible opportunity to see where McLaren has come from, and where it’s going. And if you enjoyed the video make sure you hit like, let Rory know in the comments and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!
Bruce himself tragically died testing one of his own racing cars back in 1970, but his spirit lives on in the company he created. And, most of all, in the cars carrying his name. Here Rory gathers together some of the most spectacular of its recent hits, putting them into context against the gamechanging F1 of 1992 and the latest plug-in hybrid Artura. Buckle up, it’s quite the ride… Common to the cars created by Bruce himself back in the day, and in those you can buy now, is a restless sense of innovation to push boundaries of technology, aerodynamics and power. McLaren’s early years were all about racing, and after a difficult few years the F1 team seems to be back where it belongs at the front of the pack. The road cars take the essence of this racing pedigree and turn it into something you can appreciate on the road as well as the track. Take the P1, the hybrid hypercar that completed the so-called holy trinity of incredible cars that, a decade ago, re-wrote the rulebook. Alongside the incredible LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder they added an electric boost to already incredible horsepower, the McLaren inevitably going one step further with its F1-inspired aero and shape-shifting ability to switch from road car to track slayer at the press of a button. As Rory discovers, the Senna that followed – named after one of McLaren’s most legendary drivers - went a totally different direction, with wild wings and the ferocious, stripped back savagery of a proper racing car. And the Elva? Well, that turns out to be otherwise sensible McLaren letting its hair down and going wild. Bringing us full circle, to the electrified Artura and McLaren’s first mainstream hybrid. It may not have the all-out power and prestige of the Ultimate Series cars above. But, as Rory discovers, a common spirit runs through all of them. And, for this new generation car, this is just the start. Getting all these cars in one place at the same time is an incredible opportunity to see where McLaren has come from, and where it’s going. And if you enjoyed the video make sure you hit like, let Rory know in the comments and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!