McLaren 50: The Drive ! Most eye-catching convoy in Dubai and Abu Dhabi gathers McLaren owners in the Middle East to join in the McLaren 50 years celebrations

McLaren Automotive this weekend held McLaren 50: The Drive, an exclusive event which brought together one of the largest gatherings of McLaren supercar owners in the world, to celebrate the five decades of motorsport success and road car innovation.

The event saw more than 20 examples of the 12C and 12C Spider, as well as Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supercars congregate at The Address Montgomerie Dubai before making their way to the exclusive Monte-Carlo Beach Club in Abu Dhabi, then back into Dubai with a drive along The Walk at JBR next to Jumeirah Beach Residence. The parade turned heads, and gave supercar fans in the UAE a unique glimpse of a fantastic collection of the British brand’s high performance sports cars.

As one of the most successful names in international motorsport, and with a pedigree for building groundbreaking high performance sports cars for the road, this was an exciting and unique opportunity for McLaren owners to be involved in celebrating 50 years of McLaren heritage.

In the UK last week, the 50th anniversary celebrations were marked by current Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, who took part in the display in the two latest models from McLaren Automotive. Perez arrived in the 3,000th production 12C – a 12C Spider finished in striking Volcano Yellow, while 2009 Formula 1™ world champion Jenson Button showcased the McLaren P1™ in front of the entire McLaren Group staff, dressed in Rocket Red t-shirts to honour the landmark occasion.

Ian Gorsuch, McLaren Automotive Regional Director for Middle East and Africa commented: “It was a very proud moment for McLaren Automotive, and personally for me, to see one of the biggest ever gatherings of McLaren supercars in the world in one place this weekend in Dubai. This event, and the events that have already been held in the UK and across the world to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary, have been about reflecting on our rich and proud heritage, which started with Bruce McLaren.”

Gorsuch added: “McLaren launched arguably the purest and most focused supercar in history, the F1, perfectly honouring Bruce’s legacy. Even 20 years on, it is still regarded by many as the greatest supercar of all time. More recently, we successfully launched both the groundbreaking 12C and 12C Spider high-performance sports cars and will soon start deliveries to customers of our next generation ultimate supercar, the superlative McLaren P1TM. We’re extremely excited about the future of McLaren Automotive, here in the Middle East and internationally, as we are increasingly establishing ourselves as one of the world’s most dynamic high-technology companies.”

The video coverage of the McLaren 50: The Drive event will be made available next week here on autoarabia.org

For those readers who are not that familiar with the McLaren brand, you must know that McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey.

In the Middle East, the company’s regional head office is located in Bahrain, home to the company’s principal shareholder, Mumtalakat. The region has a network of highly qualified and experienced McLaren retailers, located in the Kingdom’s of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Following the company’s global launch in 2010, McLaren Automotive launched the groundbreaking 12C and 12C Spider and, in keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, recently unveiled the McLaren P1™. The brand continues to expand, operating through a dedicated global network of retailers in every major automotive market.

McLaren Automotive Partners:
To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative and highly acclaimed sports cars, McLaren Automotive has partnered with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise and technology. These include Akebono, AkzoNobel, ExxonMobil, Pirelli, SAP and TAG Heuer.

Designed for the track; Developed for the road:
The connection between Formula 1 and road cars at McLaren is a natural process of experience, knowledge, principles and process transfer. Through the integration of 50 years of Formula 1 racing expertise and knowledge, and 20 years of heritage in producing landmark sports cars, McLaren Automotive designs, develops and builds the technologically advanced, groundbreaking and no compromise 12C, 12C Spider and McLaren P1™.

McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production over the past 30 years, and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.

Stay tuned for an exciting review about the McLaren 50 - The Drive and the test-drive of the McLaren 12C Spider, which our Auto Arabia editor Mohamed Sheta did last week in Dubai.

MS
11.09.2013
Manama (Bahrain) - Dubai - Abu Dhabi