McLaren is making the ultimate modern sports car - and its rivals should be worried

Hollis Johnson

The Americans have muscle cars, the Italians have their supercars, and the Brits have their sports cars. Great names such as Triumph, Jaguar, and Lotus dot Britain's sports car landscape.

Now, the supercar specialists at McLaren are offering a modern take on the long-time British institution with a sports car of their own.

The 570S is the first car to emerge from McLaren's new Sport Series. (570 stands for the number of metric horsepower its engine produces, and the "S" stands for sport.) It joins McLaren's stable of super- and hypercars already in production.

Although McLaren has been building championship-winning race cars since the 1960s and the occasional limited-edition supercar since the 1990s, the company didn't set up its McLaren Automotive subsidiary until five years ago.

In the short time the operation has been in business, McLaren Automotive has managed to find profitability by selling ultra-high-priced, but low-volume, models. With the introduction of the Sports Series, McLaren is now able to offer a wider variety of cars with a broad range of price points.

This isn't just the company's first sports car, McLaren hopes the Sports Series will completely transform its business. The Woking, England-based company expects the Sports Series to more than double the company's annual sales total to 4,000 cars over the next few years.

In the 570S, McLaren has found the weapon it needs to solidly stake its place as one of the world's great performance brands.

With a base price of $184,900, the 570S marks the first time McLaren will offer a car for sale in the US with sticker price south of $200,000.

McLaren made a vermilion red 570S Coupe test car available for Business Insider to check out. This particular car was loaded with carbon fiber upgrades and luxury options which pushed the as tested price up to $229,100.

Photos by Hollis Johnson unless otherwise credited