McLaren has a rich racing history to fall back on. The first road car of the company, founded in 1963, did not come onto the market until the 1990s: the McLaren F1. However, in the decade before that, the McLaren name could also be seen on road cars, but perhaps not on the kind you’d expect. In this edition of De Vluchtstrook: ASC / McLaren.
How on earth did the name McLaren end up on 1980s Americans? Engineer Peter Muscat is primarily responsible for this. He came up with the idea of ​​making a convertible version of the Mustang Foxbody. His wife worked at Ford at the time and owned a Mercedes-Benz SL. Because they did not want to have German cars in the parking lot at Ford, she had to park her SL a considerable distance away. In 1982 he showed his two-seat convertible version of the Mustang to Ford, but because Ford itself was also working on a convertible version of the Mustang for model year 1983, the Muscat brand referred to Lincoln-Mercury. The sales figures of the Mercury Capri could use a boost.
The Mercury Capri convertible by ASC / McLaren
Muscat turned to the American Sunroof Company (ASC), a company that specialized in converting existing models into convertibles, to implement his idea. At the time, ASC had a license agreement with McLaren. The American company was allowed to use the brand name and some of the expertise of McLaren, but the band did not go much further than that. Before Muscat approached the company, ASC had already made a Capri Coupé in the blue and orange McLaren colors. The model was distinguished by different front and rear bumpers, special wheels and McLaren stickers on the sides. ASC founder Heinz Prechter saw a convertible version of the Capri as a logical continuation of that McLaren theme.
Inspired by the SL
The convertible version of the Capri required quite a few additional adjustments. The roof went off, of course, ASC also bent the A-pillar 2.5 centimeters backwards. In addition, various reinforcements were applied to promote the rigidity of the body and chassis. Since the Mercedes-Benz SL was still the frame of reference, the Capri convertible had to become a two-seater. The rear seats of the coupé made way for two luggage compartments and the fabric roof folded completely into the body under a hard cover. You had to do that by hand, by the way. In terms of engine nothing changed: the 175 hp 5.0-liter V8 of the standard Capri was considered sufficient. 1984 was the first year that the ASC / McLaren Capri went into production. That year, however, it was not really stormy in terms of sales numbers: 50 convertibles and 10 coupés were sold.
The fact that it was not really stormy was due to a number of factors. For one thing, Mercury did not guarantee the Capris bearing the ASC / McLaren designation. In addition, the conversion was very expensive. The convertible conversion cost € 9,900 converted at that time, while the Capri with a 5.0-liter V8 only cost € 8,253. So the convertible was more than twice as expensive. The coupé had a more modest additional cost of € 3,300. Seen in that light, it is striking that more people opted for the convertible. In 1985 sales figures increased to 150 coupes and 257 convertibles. Now ASC offered more extras, of which the sportier suspension was the most radical. Did McLaren have anything to do with this? Not really, the stickers and badges were the only unifying factor with Great Britain.
A silent death
Mercury ceased production of the Capri in 1986, which also meant that the ASC / McLaren variant was coming to an end. However, the story was not over and out yet, because Ford still showed some interest in a collaboration. The Mustang Convertible also came in an ASC / McLaren version. The Mustang had the same bumpers and wheels as the earlier Capri, but the stickers were omitted. The interior was further enhanced with a special center console, unique seats and a better stereo. In 1988 1,015 copies of the ASC / McLaren Mustang were sold, which was the pinnacle.
Due to quarrels between Peter Muscat and ASC, the production figure dropped to just 247 cars in 1989. That was because this disagreement resulted in a lack of cars. In the following year, only a marginal 65 cars were produced. In 1989, ASC / McLaren also launched a special variant of the Pontiac Turbo Grand Prix, of which an estimated 750 cars were built. After that, however, it was soon finished. McLaren did not renew the license and Peter Muscat and ASC also got into a fight over licenses and royalties. In 1990 this special collaboration came to an end after seven years. ASC continued to exist for a while and came up with special creations. The Helios (photo 14) based on the Chrysler 300C is a good example of this. In the end, the company went bankrupt in 2017. The book was thus definitively closed.