What Makes a McLaren, A McLaren? (www.motor1.com)

No one can deny that the name McLaren is one of the most legendary in motorsports. The racing team has a cabinet bursting with trophies dating back fifty years. McLaren Automotive, the car manufacturer, has been harder to make heads or tails of. While a new Ferrari carries the weight of decades of tradition and the dreams of Enzo himself, a new McLaren is a very quick car from a company that isn’t old enough to have a beer.

While McLaren Automotive has enjoyed resounding success since the introduction of the

in 2011, the company’s oh-so-brief lifespan means that every new model pops into existence without context or, truthfully, a sense of gravitas. Although the names have gotten easier to remember since that initial alphabet-soup model, the cars themselves have followed a similar formula: Dump a bunch of fresh tech into something ripped from a futuristic mecha anime. Proceed to sell them as fast as you can hand-build them.

This is a 2025 McLaren Artura Spider Hybrid.  It’s the lightest convertible supercar on the market, its electric motor is even more power-dense than the McLaren P1’s, its transmission is 25% faster than last years’ model, and crucially, it follows the McLaren formula to the letter: swoopy, futuristic bodywork wrapped around a high-tech fast-as-hell drivetrain. Most importantly for me, this will be my hands-on introduction to McLaren, and it seems as good a place to start as any.

Victoria Scott / Motor1

After all, the Artura’s aesthetic is definitely very McLaren. Barring the extraordinary and limited-production P1 and Senna models (officially known as part of the McLaren Ultimate Series), all of the company’s cars have resembled increasingly futuristic and angrier versions of the MP4-12C to the point of being difficult to distinguish. While the Artura has stylistic differences from the 570S it replaces, it would be hard to tell exactly what changed without looking at a side-by-side comparison. It certainly doesn’t seem newer or more futuristic. It just looks like another McLaren. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, although it undersells just how complete a rework the Artura is. Its carbon-fiber monocoque platform is all-new and specifically designed for hybrid drivetrains, and the Artura Spider is the first hybrid convertible McLaren has offered. The V-6 nestled behind the driver is the company’s first. It has all the modern supercar stats you could ask for: 690 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque, a 0-124 mph time of 8.4 seconds, and a top speed of 205. 

Despite the electric top and hybrid drivetrain—which offers an EPA-rated 11 miles of electric range—it weighs just 3,439 pounds. Dry weight to dry weight, it’s…