McLaren 765LT goes topless with new Spider
Prefer your hair dryers to be capable of 205mph? Step right up.
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Anyone who’s been keeping up with the launch schedule of British supercar manufacturer McLaren in recent years will be completely unsurprised to see the arrival of a convertible 765LT. The 765LT Spider, as it is officially called, follows suit with most other recent McLarens with the addition of a wind-in-your-hair experience to a machine that offers eye-popping performance – both in a straight line and around corners. This latest convertible keeps up the momentum with some staggering numbers.
Take, for example, the 765LT Spider’s promise of a 2.8-second 0-62mph time, or its ability to haul you from a standing start to 124mph in 7.2 seconds, or the fact its top speed remains 205mph, identical to the hard-top 765LT. Like McLaren’s other recent convertible offerings, this latest Spider essentially adds the ability to drop the top without sacrificing any of the straight-line performance enabled by its twin-turbocharged V8 engine. Achieving this remains an impressive feat, because convertibles have more weight – 49kg in this case – thanks to their folding roof mechanisms. And they’re often less aerodynamic, too.
Also, anyone who’s driven a convertible from the 20th century will be familiar with the rattles and vibrations cars without tops often suffered from back then. It’s all to do with a reduction in their structures’ stiffness thanks to the removal of their lids. But thanks to McLaren’s prevalent use of carbon fibre, that exotic material commonplace in F1 that’s both lighter and stiffer than metal, the loss in rigidity in its Spider models has always been completely unnoticeable. That means handling – which in a high-powered supercar is directly affected by a car’s stiffness – is unaffected. It’s win-win stuff for convertible lovers.
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Of course, there is a premium to pay for the added open-air experience offered by the 765LT Spider – a £30,000 one, because the price for McLaren’s fastest convertible is £310,000. But at this end of the automotive world, where supercar owners have multiple machines in the garage and a yacht in the harbour, such differences in price are liable to be of smaller significance than choosing between two bottles toward the tail of a wine list. A bigger issue for budding 765LT Spider buyers will be getting their hands on one, as just 765 examples (see what they did there?) are to be made – identical to the 765LT coupe. Don’t expect them to hang about for long, either.
For those not currently embedded in that lavish world (us included), you could opt for a slightly less extreme – but no less worthy – option from the ever-growing range of convertible offerings. Ten of our favourite drop-tops are ready for your inspection here, plucked from our stock of convertibles ready to take you out this summer. Alternatively, McLaren’s other new baby, the hybrid Artura, will be on display at The British Motor Show, sponsored by cinch, from 19-22 August for you to gawk at up close. Rest assured cinch always has your back.
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