After requests from a handful of P1 customers, McLaren is considering offering a full bare carbon fibre option for the P1 as well as the no-cost part carbon fibre option already on offer.
McLaren are considering a full bare carbon fibre option for the P1 (pictured)
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With the McLaren P1 now getting close to hitting the road as a customer car (and arriving at Goodwood on the move in July), the lucky few with pockets deep enough to buy a car that will cost them pushing on £1 million are busy poring over the options for the P1.
We spoke to one such customer over the weekend who was busy deciding which boxes to tick on the P1 spec sheet, and he was under the impression that McLaren were offering a full bare carbon fibre option for the P1, and at no cost. Which didn’t sound right.
It didn’t sound right because a bare carbon fibre option us usually one of those ‘How much!’ boxes on hypercar option lists that make your eyes water (Pagani want £100k for bare carbon fibre on the Huayra), so the idea that McLaren would do it as a freebie seemed unlikely.
Unlike other supercar makers, who charge through the nose for bare carbon fibre as, they say, it takes a huge amount of man hours to make sure the weave is perfect, McLaren should be able to do it for no costs (in fact, they’d save the cost of a paint job). But it’s not true.
McLaren do offer bare carbon fibre as a no cost option for the roof, front bumper section and the sections within the doors (as you can see in the photo above), but they don’t offer a full bare carbon option, or at least not yet.
McLaren tell us that after a number of requests from P1 customers a full bare carbon fibre option for the P1 is being discussed, but it won’t come within the no-cost carbon fibre panels option already on offer.
No doubt McLaren will acquiesce to the requests for a full bare carbon fibre option on the P1, but so far we don’t know how much they’ll want for it.
We’ll update when McLaren decides.
Peloton25 says
Head of sales for the P1 program told me early in the year that they’d be doing bare carbon for the entire car as an option at additional cost. The areas that are typically painted will require special care as you note to ensure the weave is pleasing and lines up from panel to panel, but he didn’t express any reservations on it when asked in front of several potential depositors.
>8^)
Erik
Cars UK says
Thanks, Erik.
There does seem to be a bit of confusion as McLaren’s line is that full bare carbon fibre isn’t an option but is under consideration,. No doubt they’ll do it, and probably at a not insignificant price!
Peloton25 says
I’ll be seeing the P1 for the third time later this week. Not sure which representatives from McLaren will be present with the car, but I’ll ask about this option again and see what they can share.
Perhaps they have made some attempts since January to produce fully bare exterior and found it more complicated than originally thought? There are only 5 major exterior body panels on the P1, some with significantly complex shapes involved, so the layup could prove to be a bit challenging to execute just right.
>8^)
Erik
Dave Price says
If it costs as much as £100,000 to have bare carbon fibre, why not just have it wrapped for a couple of grand instead?