McLaren opens the P1 to younger drivers with lightweight special
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The McLaren P1 has been on sale for five years, and McLaren Automotive is celebrating with a new special edition. It doesn’t have a unique paint finish, and more power was out of the question, but it does open the Ultimate Series up to a completely new audience – one often neglected by high-end sports car makers.
The P1 Foot to Floor is aimed at children not yet old enough to pilot the P1 electric Ride-On. Where the full-size P1 is powered by a twin-turbocharged V8 and electric hybrid system, and the electric Ride-On draws on a small electric motor, performance for the Foot to Floor is entirely reliant on the driver.
McLaren says the 0-200 metres-per-hour time is entirely “biscuit dependent”, although more flexible owners will also be able to power their cars with essentially any food that isn’t broccoli. No emissions data is available, but the engine is expected to be particularly noisy after sugar, or when it really wants something.
Along with the teeny-tiny P1 for teeny-tiny drivers, McLaren is celebrating the P1’s fifth anniversary with a range of small model cars, slot cars and a build-it-yourself Airfix set. Radio-controlled cars from New Bright, Rastar and Maisto will also be offered in the lead up to Christmas.
The Foot to Floor P1 will initially be available through an online UK retailer, priced from £35.99 ($60). That represents a significant saving over the original P1, although the child-sized version is also likely to be built in far greater numbers than the hybrid hypercar.
We’re eagerly awaiting the release of a Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder with similar powertrains for a three-year old triple test.
We’ve reached out to McLaren’s local division to see if it’ll be coming to Australia, so stay tuned…
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