Update: A McLaren spokesperson confirmed the company is aware of the fire, but declined further comment until a full investigation is conducted.
Pour one out for the McLaren Artura. A few days ago in the UK, several folks were literally pouring one out on this particular Artura, though the efforts weren't enough to save the hybrid supercar from a trial by fire. It burned to a crisp, with the only clue to its identity being the lower front fascia which survived. Sort of, anyway.
What exactly happened here? Aside from catching on fire (duh) it's a question that remains unanswered. We can tell you the blaze occurred on October 16, not far from a McLaren dealership in Leeds where the car was apparently on a test drive, as reported by The Sun UK. We'll go out on a limb and assume the prospective buyer decided to pass on this particular purchase. The fire allegedly happened without warning, and thankfully, both occupants in the car escaped without any injury.
It took local fire crews approximately a half hour to extinguish the blaze, but a specific cause is unknown. Given the rarity of the Artura and the claims of it being on a test drive from a dealership, we contacted McLaren to see if there was any investigation underway or word of how it began. A spokesperson confirmed that McLaren was aware of the fire, but declined to comment further until a full investigation has been conducted.
While the cause of this fire is unknown, it's worth noting that the Artura was recalled in the US for a potential fire risk in late 2022. Documents from the automaker highlight two instances of fuel leaks from track-driven cars using a certain kind of nut on the fuel injection system. At first, a new tightening procedure was implemented as a fix and was applied to cars before customer deliveries took place. However, the second fuel leak occurred after using this procedure, prompting McLaren to issue a recall of 164 vehicles in the US.
Packing a 671-horsepower powertrain fusing a twin-turbocharged V6 with a single electric motor, the Artura is McLaren's series-production hybrid following in the footsteps of the P1 hypercar. It debuted in 2021, though various issues prompted McLaren to delay production in the months that followed.
