We had been summoned to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, apparently to see the MP4-12C months before its official unveiling. It turned out we’d be getting rather more than a sneak-peak at a new supercar.
This was April 2009. I remember being transferred by minibus with a handful of other journalists from the car park to the main entrance of the MTC, which meant looping around the big lake that ripples gently in the wind in front of the spectacular Norman Foster-designed building. What a piece of architectural showmanship that is – it makes you feel privileged to visit the MTC even before you’ve stepped inside.
We were offered tea and coffee, then invited into the theatre-like presentation room in the bowels of the building. Beneath a cotton cover, rotating slowly on its platform, was the MP4-12C. How I longed to be blown away by the car underneath – I was so excited by the arrival of McLaren Automotive, Britain’s very own Ferrari, and if the car only looked as exotic in real life as it did in my mind’s eye, I’d be fit to burst.
