The Dawn of the Ugly Supercar

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Photo: Ferrari/McLaren/autoevolution

Can someone please explain to me what just happened at Monterey this week? No? I guess it's up to me then, so here goes. Ferrari and McLaren each unveiled a new supercar on the same day, and somehow both carmakers forgot that these types of vehicles are supposed to be breathtaking. Can't even begin to imagine how much of a statistical improbability this was.

To be fair, the McLaren isn't quite as bad as the Ferrari, but let's take our time and look at each car, starting with the latter. Jesus Christ.

The Ferrari CZ26 is a one-off based on the SF90 Stradale, but with its own stylistic identity. I won't pretend I was the one that came up with this analogy, but it's pretty hard to miss. It really does look as though the "SF90 had a baby with the Luce", and it's not like it's all just accidental. The full-width black strip across the nose, the lighting elements, the horizontal graphics. I didn't know the Ferrari Design Studio was into industrial design.

I'm not going to be too mad about it, because this isn't a production car. Some U.S. buyer actually signed off on the design, so I guess it's technically his fault? But still, if you're a Ferrari decision-maker, you need to make your opinion heard! Doesn't matter how much money the customer has. If you own a restaurant - the customer is always right. If you own Ferrari, the customer is always wrong. You need to stay true to your legacy and only progress with that in mind.

What does Ferrari say? That the CZ26 takes inspiration from Italian industrial design of the 1970s. What a fascinating thing to say about a Braun stereo. An exotic supercar? Not so much. You shouldn't have to explain the intellectual merits of a Ferrari to anyone. This is the same company that gave us the 458 Italia, the F430, the Testarossa, 288 GTO. When we were little, we could draw some of these cars from memory.

Yet here we are staring at the likes of the CZ26 or the Luce. It's as though modern automotive design has developed a fear of all things conventional. You can't simply make a beautiful car anymore, because beauty can be familiar and everyone is desperate for making something futuristic and EV-like. It's got to have hidden light features and floating elements and black panels, and a monolithic aesthetic. It's beyond ridiculous and I hate it. Can't wait never to talk about the CZ26 again. It makes the 849 Testarossa look good, and that's saying a lot.

So, it's all bad? Obviously not, but this isn't about performance. It's not like Ferrari just unveiled their fastest-car ever or anything. The CZ26 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, working alongside three electric motors for a total of 986 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. It'll take you to 62 mph (100 kph) in 2.5 seconds, before maxing out at 204 mph (328 kph). It's fine.

McLaren time. The McL 6GT (capital M, lowercase c, capital L). Because reasons. I admit this thing sounds incredible on paper. It's got a V8, rear-wheel drive, a manual transmission, hydraulic steering - it's the first proper manual McLaren since the F1! We should be bowing to it instead of criticizing it, but at this point I just can't help myself.

I'd like to first point out that it's not hideous or anything. It even has a few angles that I really like. But if somebody removed the McLaren badges and told me this was the newest creation from some boutique British supercar company with just 38 employees under its roof, I'd believe them.

A reborn TVR could unveil this tomorrow and nobody would think twice to ask any questions. Same for Gordon Murray Automotive.

McLaren says the 6GT is a modern interpretation of Bruce McLaren's original M6GT, and as the Mythbusters used to say: "there's your problem!" If you go fishing for late 60's styling today, you're going to come up with something that doesn't belong in any era. Certainly something that doesn't resemble any modern McLaren. This is a brand that reinvented itself on these wind-tunnel-sculpted designs, almost biological in shape.

I don't mind the design of the McL 6GT, but it doesn't look like a McLaren. From any angle. What it does do is preview an upcoming exclusive supercar penciled in for 2028. I can't tell you how powerful or fast it's going to be, but again, it'll be rear-wheel-driven and it's going to have an authentic manual transmission.

So, perhaps, deep down, it will be what Bruce McLaren would have wanted to drive in 2026. But visually? It's got nothing on the W1, and it's got nothing on the P1.

Where does this leave us?

Worried, I guess. It seems as though every new press release I read features the words "bold" or "challenging" or "technical". The one word I don't see that much anymore is "beautiful".

But I'm still hopeful this is all just temporary. Maybe automotive design simply needs time to work through this obsession with minimalism, industrial design, and retro-futurism. All we can do is wait.