Cars

Full throttle

McClaren relives Le Mans ‘95 with limited edition 720s

McClaren made record history at its first ever appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 with seven of its McLaren F1 GTRs. Car #59 – driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya – was crowned the overall winner at one of the wettest races in the event’s history.

To celebrate the achievement anew, the British supercar manufacturer is rolling out a commemorative McLaren 720S Le Mans special edition on the 25th anniversary of the race.

Only 5o of the anniversary edition will be produced, coming in Sarthe Grey or McLaren Orange and featuring a functional gloss-black roof scoop and carbon-fibre louvered front fenders. The lower body sides, lower front bumper and rear bumper are painted Ueno Grey. The five-spoke wheel design is inspired by that of the F1 GTR racer, while contrasting gold-painted brake calipers are fitted, too.

Owners of the 720S Le Mans model will experience the performance delivered by the mid-mounted four-litre M840T McLaren engine. The twin-turbocharged V8 propels the car from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.9 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 7.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 341 km/h (212 mph). A carbon fibre Monocage II central structure and Proactive Chassis Control II suspension system help to ensure the 720S is the lightest car in its class. Of the 50 models to be built, 16 are destined for Europe, with a price tag somewhere above that of the $299,000 for the standard 720S. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in September.

Concepts on course

Alexander Kavanagh looks at the concept cars putting science fiction-turned-fact in the driving seat

How many concept cars can you name that are inspired by films from more than ten years ago? Probably not many. There are famous film cars, such as Back to the Future’s DeLorean or James Bond’s Aston Martin, but those are something different entirely. The new Mercedes Vision AVTR is a concept car like no other.

Inspired by Avatar, James Cameron’s blockbuster, the Vision AVTR looks like it has come straight out of the world of Pandora. And, given that it “trials a completely new interaction between human, machine and nature”, it goes way beyond fiction. This is life imitating art.

The AVTR has been made to look more like a living organism than a traditional car. It has been fitted out with bionic flaps that look like scales and has controls that work when the driver lifts their hand. Its battery is made from organic, recycled material and is fully compostable.

While it has been inspired by science fiction, when Ola Källenius, chair of the Board of Management for Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, presented the new concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the car took a step closer to becoming reality.

“Where do we take it from here?” Källenius asked. “I guess that’s the core question of every CES. And this inner unrest for what’s next is also at the core of our purpose at Mercedes-Benz. Today we would like to show what that means.”

Mercedes’ new concept trials a number of cutting-edge technologies, including the previously mentioned 33 “bionic flaps” on the back of the car, which feed information to the driver about the surrounding environment.

Arguably the most Avatar-like aspect of the car, however, is how the driver and car ‘merge’. There is no traditional steering wheel or gear stick; instead there’s a control unit that allows the person in either the passenger or driver’s seat to control the car. In ‘comfort mode’ the car is autonomous.

While it’s hard to imagine that the AVTR is anywhere near mass production, it is a sign of where one of the world’s leading carmakers is heading. And if this is the future, it looks very interesting.

Volvo Polestar 2

Volvo showed its first concept car as a coupé to gauge the market and put it into production two years later. Polestar 2 looks set to follow suit with an avant-garde design featuring distinctive flourishes such as a hexagonal gear shifter with an illuminated Polestar at the centre. A versatile electric car, tech such as intelligent seat sensors and responsive accessibility negate the need for a key, offering drivers freedom and minimal faff. Wireless inductive phone charging is another neat feature: place your phone in the tunnel console and it will be juiced up on arrival at your destination.