It’s the Return of The Mack, and no, we’re not talking about a certain 90s UK hit singer despite sharing lots of similarities with the Woking-based car brand – British, one-trick pony... you get the point, right? Back to the world famous British supercar purveyors and, good news indeed for local fans, especially those ready to part away copious amounts of Ringgits for one.
If you didn’t notice, the McLaren brand has been dormant here in Malaysia for a while since previous custodians Sime Darby Auto Britannia ceased its sales operations. The new outfit McLaren Kuala Lumpur has been taking over all aspects of handling the McLaren business (including aftersales) since it was set-up in April 2018.
Since then and, for reasons beyond us, the new custodians have opted to fly under the radar. They’ve been doing so for a while now and, surprisingly, this operational anonymity seems to be working for them as they’ve secured plenty of bookings, most notably from their first official event hosted last weekend.
Held at the brand’s new Malaysian home – which is located in Glenmarie too – last weekend was a private preview of the McLaren 600LT by the revived McLaren Kuala Lumpur effort. Though it was supposed to be a ‘customers only’ affair, we managed to gain entry and seized the opportunity to size up Woking’s most extreme and limited Sport Series model yet alongside local prospects.
Presented in this preview held on Saturday was the hardtop variant, dressed in the marque’s unmistakable silver hue. Don’t let the rather ‘plain’ paintjob fool you though, this is a proper supercar that’ll do nought to 100kph in just 2.9 seconds, and nought to 200kph in 8.2 seconds before topping out at 328kph. All this definitely puts this Mack up in the same league as things like the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and Ferrari 488 Pista.
This is possible thanks largely to this Mack’s 1,261kg (dry) claimed base weight, as well as its fire-breathing twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 heart that’s rated at a whopping 600PS (592hp) and 620Nm. Managing both to the rear wheel is McLaren’s own 7-speed SSG (Speed Shift Gearbox).
With the 600LT, McLaren is promising “The edge” Clearly, that’s marketing lingo for a car that’s batsh*t fast. In typical McLaren form, there’s enough hardware and software to put all that power in check, namely things like Adaptive Dampers, Open Differential with Brake Steer, Launch Control, Active Aero and sticky Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo R tyres – basically, the usual full works of McLaren…
Let’s also not forget that this is a McLaren that you can tailor to your own desire and taste via the McLaren Special Operations (MSO) customisation options present – as if the list of ‘standard’ options isn’t enough. Yes, you have the choice between stuff like Carbon Fibre, Alcantara and Titanium for the bulk of it, provided you’ve got the Ringgits for all of them of course.
Speaking of which, McLaren Kuala Lumpur have set an official price tag for those who desire a 600LT of their own. Again, typically of McLaren, it’s no bargain, with base prices starting from RM998,000 onwards – *EXCLUDING taxes, options, and on-road costs. Oh yes, you’d also better hurry in placing that booking.
This being one of McLaren’s limited-run specials, this model will only be produced for the next nine months in Woking. On top of that, McLaren Kuala Lumpur says they’ve already sold out their initial allocation of nine units, but the firm does intend to bring more in should bookings be made in time before production ends.
Aptly, things are looking up for the brand here in Malaysia indeed with its new yet secretive guardians. Here’s to hoping we see more from them soon enough, maybe with the 600LT Spider? *hint*
