Klibansky's new supercar

What other brands call GT3 RS or Pista, it calls McLaren LT. Those letters represent the very best the brand has to offer. Now a new LT is arriving: the 765LT Spider. Joseph Klibansky will soon be driving one of the 765 examples.Text: Perry Snijders
Online Editor: Noa Verseveldt
Image: McLarenBack to the spring of 2019. With a group of about twenty McLarens we drive the McLaren drive. Virtually all models the brand has built since 2011 are present during this rally organized by importer Louwman Exclusive. eleven we drive to the Italian Brescia in a 570S and the spectacular Senna are represented. Almost everyone seems to be having a good time during the drive, but with one team the fun really splashes off: Joseph and Louis Klibansky, driving a black 600LT Spider. At the time, it was the fiercest variant of the McLaren Sport Series, a model that has since been succeeded by the Artura. By now we are a few years down the road and it is time for a new LT. This time, the basis is not the brand-new Artura, but the 720S, which entered the market in 2017. This is how it works with all car manufacturers: the tastiest versions of a model come when it has been on the market for a few years, in order to keep the model in the news as well as give the message that the model is still current. This is how BMW does it with the M2, this is how Porsche does it with the 911 GT3 and this is how Lamborghini does it with the Huracán STO. At McLaren, the celebration even consists of two phases: in spring 2020, the 765LT was introduced, now the Spider follows. No need to choose, as the coupe is already sold out long and wide. Even the Spider is no longer an option, because just like the coupe, a limited edition of 765 is being built.

Ultralight

If you ask us, it's an easy choice anyway. While the 765LT Spider is 49 kilograms heavier than the coupe, at 1,388 kilograms it is still lighter than the 720S coupe - courtesy of a hefty weight loss. More importantly, the 765LT Spider is lighter than all of its competitors. What McLaren has done to make the car lighter? The ten-spoke wheels are ultra-light, the exhaust is Titanium, the seats are carbon fiber, as are the center tunnel and floor. Lightweight alcantra was used for the upholstery. Two weight-saving touches probably undo any buyer immediately: the LT comes standard without air conditioning and music system. For buyers who want it (we estimate: all of them) McLaren puts that in at no extra cost, but of course it adds some extra pounds: 10 for the air conditioning, 1.5 for the sound system, to be exact. By the way, you can compensate for that by choosing some options that do have to be paid for. For example, you can opt for the Super- Lightweight racing seats, which weigh only 3.35 kilograms each. In the very lightest configuration McLaren kevert, the 765LT Spider weighs 1,288 kilograms.

Theatrical

And why the choice of a Spider is a simple one, as we said earlier? A sports car is not only about performance, but above all about fun and experience. With the roof open, you experience the sensation of speed much more intensely than in a closed sports car. "By putting the roof down, the driver becomes even more involved in the driving," says McLaren's product manager Ian Howshall. The coupe is already impressive, but when you lower the Spider's roof, a character change takes place before your eyes, almost a theatrical element, as if you were experiencing a live orchestra from a spot right in front of the stage." Even when it is too cold or wet to open the Retractable Hard- Top, the Spider can be more spectacular than the coupe. In fact, you can choose to open only the rear window. Now you may think that opening a window is not really an experience, but that underestimates it. With this rear window you don't have the clatter and noise that you have when you open the side window of any car. But above all, after opening that rear window, you hear the unfiltered sound of the V8, which lets out its mighty roar there, inches away from you. By the way, the latter was also possible with the 600LT Spider, still one of our favorite McLarens. So we can't wait to drive the new 765LT Spider. And Joseph Klibansky? If possible, he is even more curious than we are. His car is already on order.

MASTERS MAGAZINE

Want to read more about the driving experience and what Joseph says about McLaren? Then order the new MASTERS MAGAZINE now!

MASTERS #48 with guest editor-in-chief Joseph Klibansky