McLaren names its next supercar
The next-generation McLaren supercar will be called the McL 820, launching in 2027 but likely without a V8 engine.
McLaren recently announced the 750S was soon reaching the end of the road, and now it’s detailed what will come next, unveiling the name of its next supercar.
The McLaren McL 820 will launch in 2027 as the fourth generation of the brand’s core supercar products, a lineage which started with the MP4-12C, the 650S and most recently the 720S in 2017, a model which morphed into the 750S.
It’s the first time the ‘McL’ prefix has been used on one of the brand’s road cars, linking to its Formula 1 machines – which have used the McL/MCL prefix since 2017 – as well as its upcoming MCL-HY World Endurance Championship racer.
The announcement was made with a statue of a Kiwi bird in London, with the longtime logo of McLaren wrapped in camouflage bearing the new name.
McLaren has shared little about the McL 820, apart from it keeping in tradition with its most recent road cars by referencing its power output (820PS) in its name.
That gives weight to recent reports, after Automotive News reported in September that McLaren dealers were shown a roadmap of future product plans, which included the announcement of the company’s new line of supercars, powered by V6 plug-in hybrid powertrains.
The report claimed the new V6 PHEV supercar will produce about 604kW (820PS) and 1085Nm, significantly more than the 552kW and 800Nm outputs of the 750S, and still more than the 580kW figure of the recent send-off 788HS).
It would also be a very healthy increase over the Artura, which develops 500kW and 720Nm combined.
Jordan Mulach
Carmakers downsizing the cylinder count of their supercars is nothing new, with Ferrari’s entry-level models moving from V8s to plug-in hybrid V6s in the past few years, while Lamborghini ditched its V10s for hybrid V8s.
The new engine is claimed to be newly developed, suggesting it may use minimal or no carry-over parts from the Artura sports car, which features a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 (with a 120-degree bank) and an electric motor within its transmission.
The recent McLaren 788HS is understood to be the last non-electrified V8 in the core McLaren lineup we’ll see for a while, as the brand’s next-generation models are tipped to get hybrid assistance.
Jordan Mulach
With production of the 750S winding up, it’s expected McLaren will no longer offer non-electrified V8 engines in its core supercar lineup, though there is still space for higher-end models to keep V8 power.
“We’ve previously confirmed that the new V8 will certainly be looked to be powering some of our future vehicles” McLaren W1 Project Manager Heather Fitch told Torquecafe in 2025.
"And hybrids as well, we see a continued role for hybrid system setups for years to come. So there will be opportunities into the future for components like this."
