Glickenhaus SCG003: a millionaire's dream car?

When people like us come up with something in the car world that isn't to our taste, for example the fact that normal cars look nothing like race cars, we may grumble on to anyone that will listen for a while, but on the whole there is nothing we can do about it. When James Glickenhaus has this thought, he takes a different approach: he creates his own company in order to address this issue. Cue 'scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus' a company that seeks to minimalist the differences between his road car and his N24 racer. Both are called the SCG003, and theoretically you could change the road car into a racer by changing only the engine, gearbox and rear subframe. 

Being very close aesthetically to its racer cousin, the figures on the road car are as aggressive as the car looks. The downforce figure, for example, is 900kg. That's about 300 more than a McLaren P1 makes. And the weight is also superior to the hypercars of last year. The weight estimate is about 1100kg, considerably less than the P1 or Laferrari. The engine which will be used is still in question, with Maserati's twin turbo V8 maybe fit for the purpose. The horsepower figure is currently being given at 650bhp, but it may be more. All of these mean that the estimated Nurburgring time for the road car is about 6minutes 30seconds, which is race car fast. 

So, to sum up, a very fast car from a very rich man. Also a very large price tag for the car. Namely $2.5 million. About the same as the Koenigsegg one:1 I reviewed a while ago. So way, way out of reach for most of us. But at least it's nice to know that having money can allow you to solve your worries.

Nev

Mclaren 570s: family resemblance or cheaper twin?

So here it is: the long-awaited 'baby' McLaren, designed to sit below the 650s on the McLaren ladder. Priced at £50,000 below the 650s at £145,000, it tries to make McLaren accessible to more people while still having a family resemblance. But does it try too hard? This car has all the looks of a supercar but for less money. But with figures still definitely in supercar territory, has McLaren differentiated enough?

For starter's, its weight is about as much as a Golf GTI, with McLaren using the carbon tub chassis. This means that it weighs as much as the VW, but with A LOT more power. which obviously leads to some frightening figures. the engine is a twin-turbo 3.8 litre V8, which here produces 562BHP and 0-62MPH in 3.2 seconds. Light as a GTI with double the power? Why would you want anything else? The performance of this car puts it just faster than a 911 turbo S, but which one would you prefer? One with the looks of a sports car or one with the looks of a supercar? Hard choice, isn't it! And the engine means it will hit a 204MPH top speed.

But with figures like this, it does start to ask questions of the 650S. Is it worth £50,000 more? Have McLaren failed to distinguish their ladder? Is the 570S (I hate to say this) too good? Sales will start later in the year. I wonder how it will get on?

Nev