The McLaren 765LT Spider

The McLaren 765LT is an impressive car on her own, continuing the Long Tail legacy we know from McLaren since the 675LT, 675LT Spider, 600LT, and 600LT Spider, but the Long Tail name was born back in 1997 when a McLaren F1 GTR Longtail took the victory in the GT1 class during the world’s most famous endurance race, the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

When you are reading this article, the McLaren 765LT Coupe is already sold out, every single one of the 765 units has found a customer, so for McLaren, this is the perfect opportunity to make some more money from this chassis and release the Spider version, a convertible based on the 765 PS strong model, making this the most powerful open-top McLaren supercar to date … and once again, production for the McLaren 765LT Spider is limited to 765 units, what would you expect?

Now, I hear you thinking … most powerful-ever convertible supercar from McLaren? What about the McLaren Elva with her 804 hp then? Simple, apart from the ‘Windscreen edition Elva‘ for certain markets or for those clients that prefer having some protection in front of them, there is no roof on the Elva, so technically it’s not a convertible … you can’t ‘convert’ it into a closed model as this 765LT Spider can, so with 765 PS the latter takes that crown.

Turning the McLaren 765LT into the Spider only adds 49 kg to the overall weight of 1,388 kg, compared to the McLaren 720S Spider that’s still 80 kg lighter, and the press release states her closest rivals are all at least 100 kg heavier, part of that lightweight comes from an innovative roof design McLaren calls the RHT, or Retractable Hard Top, a single-piece carbon fiber top that can be stowed away in just 11 seconds while driving at up to 50 km/h, very impressive.

Despite being launched after all the units of the McLaren 765LT Coupe were sold, the MonoCage II-S structure (with the S for Spider) was developed at the same time as the coupe monocoque, many of the structural components are shared among the two, such as the windshield surround for instance. An amazing feat is the fact the Spider monocoque didn’t need any additional bracing for rigidity due to not having a roof structure, the rollover protection is fully bonded into the chassis by the way.

Despite being a hardtop convertible, the windshield does not need to be extended above the occupants as seen on many open-top cars with a rigid roof, using a single piece carbon fiber roof also increases headroom thanks to no seam needed above your head, and when closed the entire structure is stronger than ever thanks to it being all carbon fiber from front to back … for the Spider version McLaren did have to reprogram the active rear wing to counteract the difference in airflow with the roof in place compared to when driving topless.

The engine from the 765LT is used for the Spider, what else, this 4-Liter V8 engine with twin-turbocharging gives the 765LT Spider an amazing power to weight ratio of 598PS-per-tonne, with 800 Nm of torque the acceleration figures are equally as impressive, 0 to 100 km/h takes 2.8 seconds, the 0 to 60 mph time is just 2.7 seconds. 200 km/h (124 mph) comes up after only 7.2 seconds with a top speed of 330 km/h (205 mph). This new Longtail Spider achieved the fastest lap times ever posted by a convertible LT model while the famous quarter-mile from standstill is completed in 10 seconds flat!

You might want to head over to your local McLaren dealer as this 765LT Spider is available to order right now, pricing in the UK is set at £310,500 and it seems the entire production capacity for the remainder of 2021 is already sold out, with only 765 units in total, you might want to hurry up and get that order signed so you don’t miss out on this latest and most engaging addition to the McLaren Longtail lineage, this is a new classic collector’s car in the making for sure.