The motoring world has collectively waited to see, and hear, the new McLaren Speedtail in real-life, but for average motorheads without a few hundred thousand dollars burning a hole in their pockets, the wait seems like it could be a long one. Thankfully, one of the first Speedtails to be sold in the United States was caught rolling out of the dealer showroom, revealing the form, sound, and style of the new supercar in spectacular fashion.
No, sadly, the Speedtail's gigantic powerplant doesn't even get close to full throttle—the drivers seems content to safely plod his way out of the dealer, out through a driveway, and away from the cameras. Here's hoping he immediately mashed pedal to the metal, though the prospect seems fairly unlikely.
The video was posted by McLaren Newport Beach, located in the south bay area of Los Angeles, and despite the disappointing speed, the car's exterior design is on dazzling display. Highlights include a first live-motion view at what gives the Speedtail its name—that extra-long extension hanging off the car's rear end. The word "long" barely does the design justice, with what looks like multiple feet, at least, behind the rear wheels.
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The Speedtail was originally rumored to remain illegal for import to the United States, and there's no definite word on exactly how buyer Alex Alexiev (the driver in the vid) got his hands on such an early example. Critical stats for the Speedtail have been confirmed by McLaren, however, and clearly demonstrate that the English carmaker is getting back into the realm of world-beating supercars that it deserted after the iconic F1 of the 1990s. (In the video, Alexiev can clearly be seen in a center-mounted driver's seat, a clear nod to the original F1.)
Under that carbon fiber shell, the Speedtail packS a hybrid drivetrain pumping out a claimed 1,035 horsepower. It can allegedly sprint from zero to 186 mph in the same time range that most sports cars take to run a quarter-mile, 12.8 seconds flat. That teardrop rear-end, meanwhile, gives it the aerodynamics necessary to attain a top speed of over 250 miles per hour.