Key Takeaways
- McLaren potentially considering new names for next hypercar, with trademarks U1 and H1 filed in UK.
- Previous halo car names have followed the alphanumeric naming scheme of a single letter followed by the number 1: F1 and P1.
- Hybrid V8 developed by Ricardo the most likely powertrain for the P1’s successor.
CarBuzz has discovered another two potential names for McLaren’s next Ultimate Performance halo hypercar. Just like the two names we discovered less than a month ago, on March 27, the new names were filed with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office. Unlike those two names, we can’t find any obvious links to McLaren’s history – the names are simply U1 and H1.
McLaren
McLaren Automotive is famed for its F1-inspired development of high-performance sports cars, supercars, and hypercars like the F1, P1, and McLaren Senna.
- Founded
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2 December 1985 (as McLaren Cars), revived in 2010 as McLaren Automotive
- Founder
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Ron Dennis
- Headquarters
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Woking, England
- Owned By
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McLaren Group (Mumtalakat Holding Company)
- Current CEO
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Michael Leiters
Despite the lack of clues, we may as well throw a considered theory or two out there, but first, let’s discuss a few red herrings. A virtual designer on Behance named Vijay Kumar rendered his idea of a McLaren hypercar and dubbed it U1 (the ultimate one). As for the other name, while we concede that McLaren has named its cars like office equipment in the past, we doubt H1 would be a reference to its half-year earnings report.
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Potential Applications Of McLaren’s New U1 & H1 Trademarks
Recent reports discussing the P1 successor, which is internally codenamed P18, say that the hypercar will be an effective replacement for both the P1 and the Senna as the new halo car in the Ultimate Performance top-tier range of McLaren sports and supercars. This suggests an extreme focus on track performance through groundbreaking technology. Those same reports state that McLaren is aware that the Senna was oft overlooked due to its gnarly styling and that Woking doesn’t want to repeat that.
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It sounds like P18 will be the ultimate halo car in every respect, and therein lies a potential explanation for each name. McLaren Ultimate One or McLaren Halo One wouldn’t be particularly imaginative names, but they get to the point. Still, we prefer the MP1 name we discovered earlier, as this would tie in nicely with McLaren’s relatively short heritage. A look at McLaren’s past halo cars points us to the F1 – named after the Formula 1 foundation from which the company was originally founded – and the P1, which was both a nod to the F1’s internal codename (Project 1) and a designation used to indicate first place on a grid or in a race. H1 and U1 could just be continuations of the alphanumeric scheme using the number 1.
What We Do Know About The Next McLaren Hypercar
We know the P1 successor will be fast and powerful because it’s a McLaren, but the British automaker is not chasing electric hypercar numbers. However, it will be electrified, with a Ricardo-developed V8 and a new hybrid component 70% lighter than the one in the Artura. A slight deviation from butterfly to gullwing doors, F1-style aero, and a newly developed carbon fiber tub will also characterize the car.
If the brand’s history is anything to go by, these new chassis, powertrain, and tech upgrades will eventually filter down to 750S successors and the like. McLaren is said to be “putting everything” into a “totally bonkers hypercar,” and we’re expecting it to arrive late this year or early in 2025. We hope to have confirmation of what it’s called before then.
Trademark filings do not guarantee the use of such names for future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property to prevent rival OEMs from capitalizing on similar naming strategies. Such a filing cannot be construed as production intent.
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