McLaren

The Monterey Car Week auctions left the collector car world in a state of shock. Sales totals were expected to be similar to 2018 when 850 cars sold for US$370 million but when the hammer fell for the final time in Monterey, just 770 cars had fetched $245 million – a shortfall of 80 cars and $125 million, or 34 percent down. Here's a car-by-car glance.

McLaren has announced a new, limited-run model for the Ultimate Series at the Pebble Beach Concours​. The open-top roadster will debut in 2020 and only 399 units will be built. The car will be priced between the Senna and Speedtail models.

The 2019 Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille ​was a triumph in many ways, most importantly in the turnout of exclusive automobiles from 16 manufacturers including significant debutant models. For McLaren it was doubly so, as its new​ Speedtail took out "Best in Show."

We didn't want to write about this, we really didn't. I mean, it's a battery-powered Barbie car for kids, those have been around forever. But one look at the product video and a flip through the photos and we were hooked.​

Bonhams 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale contains several scale cars built just for children with a 1929 Le Mans 4½ Litre Blower Bentley replica with royal provenance the pick of the bunch. Others include a 1939 BMW 328, a 1933 MG J2J4 and a 1998 Formula 1 McLaren MP4-13.

McLaren has unveiled its newest road offering, the Grand Tourer (GT). Based on the Speedtail, the McLaren GT: Superlight is the company’s first grand tourer and fits alongside the Sports, Super, and Ultimate Series of supercars. McLaren says the new GT is focused on comfort and cabin refinement.

​After 5,000 hours of work, Lego and McLaren have unveiled one heck of a collaboration: a full-size, 1:1 Lego replica of the Senna supercar. Using half a million bricks, the replica has working lights, doors and infotainment system, and somehow weighs 500 kg more than the real thing.

At today's Melbourne launch of what we'd describe as the most beautiful car in the McLaren stable, we had a chance to get up close and personal with the new 720S Spider convertible. And what a stunner it is.

The 2019 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance continued to grow in stature this year, but it was the symbiotic cluster of elite auctions that threw up the most interesting results. The collector car market is undergoing generational change, attracting a younger clientele driving prices below $500,000.

Car auctions have made the digital transition far better than most industries, and while we may no longer have the rampant bull market of a few years ago, the collectible car industry looks in better shape than ever. Here's a selection of the more interesting lots that sold in Paris.

Three-time Formula One Champion Ayrton Senna continued to smash records 25 years after his death at Retromobile last weekend, setting new auction price records for a Formula One helmet ($184,340 | €162,000​) and race suit ($110,372 | €97,500​).

What's going to happen to F1 when it goes fully electric, and today's lack of overtaking joins tomorrow's lack of sound to create the fastest yawn-fest on wheels? McLaren's been thinking about how to save top-tier motorsport in the future, and has presented a vision for a 2050 electric Grand Prix.