McLaren X-1 Concept

  • Thread starter Nish
  • 59 comments
  • 7,570 views
Call me damn old insane, but I like it. At first glance of the front 3/4 I felt it wasn't good looking but wasn't ugly. But after looking at the other shots of the car, I've concluded that I actually like its looks. If given the money, and the position to make Mclaren make another one, I would actually consider this.
 
I quite like this sort of car, the idea of mixing many ideas into a single body design is somewhat appealing to me.

The problem here is that the ideas were quite bad. I wouldn't call it ugly, because it's customized to be like it's owner meant to. It's...quirky, but unpleasing to the eye.
 
Even people with millions think the MP412C needs jazzing up :lol: It's not bad looking but its certainly not got any Mclaren heritage influence (like those one off Ferrari's), the guy could have picked any car as the donor. Should have used a Bugatti as it would have been a better fit for the look.

Robin.

TBH i think and Audi R8 would of been a better fit, looks like a similar look frot and back and the roof line. if i was a millionaire wanting more jazz, i would just go for the Mansory versions
Mansory-McLaren-MP4-12C-21.JPG

or FAB design
fab-design-terso-geneva.jpg
 
From the angle in the OP, for a very brief second, I thought it looked like the LFA.
From any other angle than that, it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.
 
I think it's biggest problem is that it doesn't fit the brand in any way. Having McLaren written on it even looks odd because McLaren hasn't got a history spanning back that far (well at least not to that stylistic era).

If this was a Veyron conversion it would be perfect because old Buggati's looked like that. Even the wheels on this car scream Buggatti. He just chose the wrong donor car to do his one off.

I wish Mercedes had a customs division (like true one off's), it seems to be all the rage now. The only thing they have done was the Sterling Moss SLR.

Robin.
 
As iv'e said before: "it's not my up of tea", but i still find it an interesting design, i also imagine, the customer of this bespoke design, probably owns one of those fancy yachts with a car dock on it... Can't really imagine anything more fitting, than seeing that McLaren rolling off a luxury yacht's garage on the French Rivera etc.

It would look far more classy than anything else i can imagine in that ^ particular scenario... in the car looks like the boat, boat looks like the car kind of way.
 
Last edited:
As a piece of design i think it looks great. It's different to any other supercar and manages to be retro without looking derivative or chintzy, which can't be said for Spykers, Paginis or the Veyron. The MP4 12C is an odd choice as a base car, but as the standard car is so much the very definition of 'generic supercar' in it's looks, it's almost the ideal starting point. It's certainly a better stab of an individual styled supercar than the one Ferrari have recently done for Eric Clapton.
 
It looks like a replacement/evolution of the Audi R8 rather than a McLaren. From certain angles it looks good but that rear looks horrible. However it's a definite improvement on the 12C in my opinion, that to me looks like a plastic kit car.
 
As a piece of design i think it looks great. It's different to any other supercar and manages to be retro without looking derivative or chintzy, which can't be said for Spykers, Paginis or the Veyron. The MP4 12C is an odd choice as a base car, but as the standard car is so much the very definition of 'generic supercar' in it's looks, it's almost the ideal starting point. It's certainly a better stab of an individual styled supercar than the one Ferrari have recently done for Eric Clapton.

Couldn't have said it better myself 👍

Originally was very thrown off when news of this broke, but the more I look at it, the more I'm enjoying it. Not as a sporting automobile, but purely as a design exercise, it's really very interesting, and despite the many influences McLaren named, it looks pretty much unlike anything else out there. Ironic given the base car.

It's not as shamelessly outrageous as the one-off Lambo J from a few months back, but that's no bad thing.
 
Why are there always people who will come into threads like this and defend originality for originality's sake? It's ugly, that's all that matters. Being original and ugly is easy, originality is only a plus when it is used to create something beautiful.
 
Why are there always people who will come into threads like this and defend originality for originality's sake? It's ugly, that's all that matters. Being original and ugly is easy, originality is only a plus when it is used to create something beautiful.

It's a good thing we have one absolute definition of what constitutes "beautiful", then...

I wouldn't call it beautiful, but I won't call it ugly. It absolutely would not work as a series-production model, but as a one-off, I think it's great for the designers. Plus, there's never been any issues with the MP4's mechanicals.
 
Why are there always people who will come into threads like this and defend originality for originality's sake? It's ugly, that's all that matters. Being original and ugly is easy, originality is only a plus when it is used to create something beautiful.

I guess that kind of refers to me (aswell as others), i don't see the X-1 as being beautiful, but i kind of look at it the same way i would look at a Citroen DS for example.. I personally think the original DS was ugly, but damn was it original and fresh for it's time, and i can fully understand why other people would find it beautiful, it's just that i don't appreciate that same beauty that others see, but i still give it props for the originality of design, and for being different from the rest of the crap out there, ie: Spykers, Pagani's etc.
 
Before you choke on your cereal its a custom one off for a customer.


Mclaren%20X1%20002.jpg

The side slabs are functional? ahh...thinking back there is some sort of attraction to this car, its just tough for me to wrap my head around this being based off the Mp4.
 
The side slabs are functional? ahh...thinking back there is some sort of attraction to this car, its just tough for me to wrap my head around this being based off the Mp4.

Are you talking about the rear wheel spats?(seen here in their upright position so the tyre can be changed)
 
It's like McLaren hired a yacht designer.

That's a good thing. A good yacht costs ten to twenty times as much as a supercar... :D

-

I like it. Color me weird, but I like it.

The only problem with the X-1 is it doesn't look like a modern or a traditional supercar. It doesn't look much like anything.

People complain that car designers are often either unoriginal, derivative or focused on making innovative yet ugly designs.

The X-1 isn't ugly in the sense that a Gumpert Apollo or an Enzo is ugly. It's sleek, well-proportioned and harmonious. The designers went to great lengths to get the proportions right, and to make all the elements fit properly with each other.

There's no shock-and-awe gaping air intakes... There's no Bangle-esque jarring line-cuts or design element hodge-podging... There's no ridiculous taped-on kidney-bean grille, Bugatti grille or Audi goatee. Instead, this is a vehicle with a clean-sheet design that eschews any and all of the faddish contraptions and tropes introduced in car design in the last fifty years.

Most people probably hate it first and foremost for the wheel cladding. Rear wheel covers are functional from an aerodynamic point of view, and all cars would have them if they didn't make changing flats such a pain. I see hate for this car as merely hate for something unfamiliar.

I absolutely love it. I'd buy a scale model if they ever made one. (The only scales I've deemed worth buying in the past few years were the old Bugatti Type 57, the BMW E46 M3 and the Toyota 2000GT).
 
The rear end reminds me of some kind of Retro back to the future batmobile. The front end has very modern styling. Thats my problem with this car. The front and the rear do not seem to agree with each other. The front is modern, the rear is retro. It's very confusing to look at.
 
Danoff
Why are there always people who will come into threads like this and defend originality for originality's sake? It's ugly, that's all that matters. Being original and ugly is easy, originality is only a plus when it is used to create something beautiful.

I don't think its ugly, in my honest opinion its very elegant. The owner wanted to have a car which redlects his personality.
 
Back