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McLaren's global headquarters could be yours for $256 million

McLaren is giving rich enthusiasts and affluent investors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of its most valuable tangible assets: its headquarters. Before you launch a GoFundMe campaign, keep in mind the next owner will be obligated to lease the property back to the carmaker for an undermined amount of time. Hit hard by the on-going coronavirus pandemic, McLaren commissioned Canadian real estate firm Colliers to sell its headquarters for GBP200 million, a sum that represents approximately $256 million at the current conversion rate. It's interesting to note the facility is worth about 13 times as much as a 1994 F1 LM-Specification. Located in Woking, which is about an hour from London, the property includes the McLaren Technology Center, the McLaren Production Center (where road cars are manufactured), and the McLaren Thought Leadership Center. There is also a small man-made lake, parking lots, several picturesque acres of grass, and thousands of trees. McLaren isn't moving. It will remain in Woking, but it will lease its headquarters from the person or company that purchases it. Details about the transaction, like how long the firm will lease the property for and how much it will spend per month, haven't been made public, unsurprisingly. However, it's reasonable to assume there will be a clause stipulating the next owner can't kick McLaren out to plant alfalfa or to open a Texas-style ranch. Executives are analyzing other ways to make money, reduce expenses, or both in the coming months. McLaren cut 1,200 jobs in May 2020, and it announced it sold only 307 cars between February and May, down from 953 the previous year. It secured a $185 million boost from the oil-rich National Bank of Bahrain, yet unverified rumors claim it's considering selling a relatively small stake in its Formula One team in order to free additional cash. Sale-and-leaseback deals aren't what we'd call common in the automotive industry, but McLaren's move isn't unprecedented. In 2012, PSA Peugeot-Citroen sold its historic headquarters on Avenue de la Grande Armee in the heart of Paris for about $327 million to raise cash; it still leases the building in 2020. And, in January 2004, troubled British carmaker MG Rover sold most of its Longbridge, England, site to a property developer with plans to rent it. It signed a 35-year contract, and optimistically added a renewal clause, but it shut down in April 2005. Earnings/Financials McLaren

McLaren P1 prototype still sliding hard after 40,000 miles

Even if you're the manufacturer responsible for producing them, you don't just hand the keys over to a seven-figure supercar to just anyone. You hand-pick just the right man for the job. But even then, you still don't want to give him a brand-new car. Which could be why when McLaren invited Chris Harris and his crew from Drive down to Abu Dhabi to capture the new P1, they put him in XP7 – a pre-production prototype that's undergone 40,000 hard miles of testing in extreme climates around the world. Not that its well-worn nature would keep Monkey from enjoying himself, and from that shining through on film. So after a brief chat with chief test driver Chris Goodwin and a cruise around town to measure its manners, it was straight onto the Yas Marina circuit to wring its neck. So what did Harris think of the McLaren P1? "I haven't driven a car like this before. I really haven't. Because there isn't another car like this. It's a different league even to a [Porsche] 918." Then he turns the traction control off. See what happens next in the video below. It's nearly a half hour long, but it's worth every second. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery McLaren P1 Hot Weather Testing View 10 Photos News Source: Drive via YouTube McLaren Coupe Hybrid Performance Videos chris harris mclaren p1 drive abu dhabi

McLaren F1 team sets deadline for engine decision amid Renault speculation

BUDAPEST - McLaren says the next five weeks will be the key to deciding which engine it will use next season, with speculation mounting that the former world champions could ditch Honda and switch to Renault. Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale told Reuters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that "everybody is talking to everybody," but time was running out. "We've got to land those decisions in the next four or five weeks," he said, speaking from a design perspective and because drivers like McLaren's Fernando Alonso were waiting to see what engines teams had before committing to new deals. "I think there is a solution out there for everybody and I hope it's one that will be able to retain Fernando in this team." McLaren scored their first double-points finish of the season in Budapest on Sunday with double world champion Alonso finishing sixth, a day after his 36th birthday, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne 10th. The nine points lifted McLaren off the bottom of the standings just before the August break and factory shutdown, a result that Neale compared to scoring a goal before halftime. Alonso's future is a key concern, with the Spaniard out of contract and saying McLaren needs to provide a competitive car to keep him. Honda's power unit has been beset with problems since the partnership started in 2015, the engine neither reliable nor competitive. Hungary, the slowest permanent circuit on the calendar, reduced those shortcomings, but the next two races in Belgium and Italy are two of the fastest, where engine horsepower is of critical importance. McLaren is Honda's sole team in Formula One. A proposed partnership with Sauber terminated last week with the Swiss team choosing to stay with Ferrari. A split from McLaren could force the Japanese manufacturer out of the sport, but Neale hinted at an alternative. "You'll have seen the media speculation that there's discussions with Toro Rosso," he said. Toro Rosso use Renault engines, but a switch to Honda — which could bring welcome funding to a team whose Red Bull parent has considered a sale in the past — would free the French units for McLaren. The Renault engine has won a race this season with Red Bull and could satisfy Alonso, who won both his titles with the French manufacturer. The other alternatives to Honda are Mercedes and Ferrari, but Neale recognized that putting a Ferrari engine in a McLaren, the Italian team's historic arch-rivals, was highly unlikely.