Rowan Atkinson, comedian and car collector extraordinaire was released from hospital today with no serious injuries after losing control of his maroon McLaren F1 and crashing into a telephone pole, setting the car alight in the process.

Atkinson apparently walked away from the wreck and sat on the side of the road with another motorist, waiting for emergency services. He has hurt his shoulder but no long term injuries are expected.

The McLaren F1 is the pride of his enormous and secretive car collection, costing over 650 000 Great British Pounds more than a decade ago. He apparently bought it to celebrate the success of the international Mr Bean film.

The car is a bit of a TV star as well, having appeared on the BBC’s Top Gear numerous times over the years. Atkinson himself was recently a guest on Top Gear and defended the car to host Jeremy Clarkson, who has never liked the McLaren. Atkinson said you have to live with the car, he has done over 37 000 miles in the car, more than any other owner presumably.

Atkinson is no stranger to car accidents, he has crashed this car before (although it was minor) and has also crashed a rare 1954 Mercedes Gullwing, a car worth close to a million pounds depending on condition.

Atkinson is also a keen racing driver, and races his 1964 Ford Falcon. He is known to own a new Audi R8, and even a Honda Civic Hybrid for more mundane duties.

As you know, the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 has been developed with Ricardo and was mated to the same Graziano seven-speed “pre-cog” dual-clutch gearbox. Further, the new variant is likely to be built around a carbon-fiber monocoque.

Dubbed “Mega Mac”, it will be possibly out sometime in 2014 carrying a price tag of around $600,000.

(Via Autoblog)

A McLaren official has been quoted as saying that between the various models under development, the company will have something new about once a year. Though the official hasn’t given us much specifications, we guess he cemented the fact that company would “stick to building two-seat sports cars.”

Previous reports and rumors had suggested that future McLaren line up involves a MP4-12C convertible, an entry-level Porsche 911 fighter and an F1 revival. Apart from this we are expecting hybrid and high performance variants too.

(via The Detroit Bureau)

From what we get to understand, CRS Racing is likely to build, sell and support the 12C GT3 cars in association with McLaren.  Also, to take the association forward McLaren is also expected to compete in a limited number of races in 2011.

McLaren believes that thinking about a GT3 car alongside the 12C road car is natural.  It is expected that the first fully-developed cars will hit the race track when the 2012 European FIA GT3 Series get underway.

The new car under development is also expected to be sold to private racing outfits at competitive prices.  Let’s wait to hear more on that.

Here’s a video preview:

The handiwork of Swiss auto designer Ueli Anliker, the car also has 600 rubies on it as part of the “tuning” job, some of which measure 35 mm in diameter. Anliker has been specializing in this technique of adding jewelry onto cars for 35 years now.

According to the insurers, the vehicle has been valued at 5 million Swiss Francs (€3.7 million/$5.2 million), which is solely based on the physical cost of the car. Adding greatly to its value are the man hours that have been put into creating it – which Anliker says is approximately 30,000 hours.

(Via WCF)

McLaren has had a prototype vehicle built in 2009, the MP4-12C – which sources say is part of the company’s plans to take the racing company into the street car business. This move is regarded to be the outcome of six years of planning.

McLaren built a name for itself in the racing world, where the company has one of the strongest reputations in the world.

Sources at the company stressed on the fact that in all of the new forays the company is making, they would continue to operate on their two key philosophies – that held true for the brand as well as the car – namely ‘substance over flash,’ and ‘lower volume, higher standards.’

The sources said that the company’s current plan is to sell 1,000 units of the MP4-12C in its first year of production – a target that seems easily attainable.

Even before the dealer network was announced weeks ago and the high-profile unveiling in front of one of the world’s wealthiest crowds at Pebble Beach took place, McLaren already had in its kitty 2,700 interested buyers.

Even if just a third of these actually bought the vehicle, it would mean that McLaren’s sales target would be met.

(Via AutoGuide)

There have been talks about indifference between the two teammates as well as an internal division and in such a situation, the Red Bull outfit will definitely find it difficult to come up with positive results in Canada. The positive sign is that the supposed culprit Webber has shown intentions to patch up as he mentioned – We’ll probably have a difference of opinion about what happened until we go to our graves, but we’re both adults and we need to find a way of racing together. If the two cannot manage to get their relationship back on track, they won’t be sharing information as much at the next race and that, as per Jenson Button will benefit McLaren hugely.

It may be the most expensive production car in the world but for McLaren F1 Executive Chairman, Ron Dennis, the Bugatti Veyron is “a complete piece of junk.” There’s nothing about the Veyron to make Ron feel good and he says that the four-wheeler is pig ugly and cannot handle very well. He mentioned that the 16-cylinder engine is only taken out by cutting the car and this huge engine is one reason the car doesn’t do well around corners. Dennis recollected how the Bugatti was not able to defeat the McLaren F1 on Top Gear, though the crew was supposed to film exactly the opposite. McLaren is busy producing the MP4-12C lightweight supercar which renders 600bhp courtesy of its 3.8L twin-turbo engine but it is supposedly not the flagship variant.

The McLaren MP4-12C is being viewed as the next big thing in the world of automobiles and McLaren wants to make the experience even more entertaining. McLaren has gone ahead and introduced a new car Configurator – a program that allows the interested customers to choose from more than a dozens of options to create their own version of the race-inspired scorcher. The color options alone include 17 hues including the very vintage McLaren Orange. The exterior options include a lot of carbon fiber equipment while for the inside; the Configurator offers varieties of leather and Alcantara. Other attractions are carbon ceramic brakes, a refined exhaust and lightweight wheels.

McLaren has been a name that has mostly been heard around the F1 circuits but all this has changed with the launch of McLaren Automotive, a company that will strictly manufacture a range of super cars in the future. The company launch was accompanied by the launch of its flagship product, the MP4-12C which is touted to be a super car for a daily commute, though it can put the best ones to shame when pelted. The exact numbers are not yet known but the hopes are high as the company has its vast F1 experience to make the super car achieve astounding feats. The revealed details are that the MP4-12C rear-wheel driven beast will come with a 3.8-liter V8 engine capable of producing 600 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque.