Ron Dennis has never been less than outspoken. He’s also a driven perfectionist – the McClaren head works in leafy Surrey being not only a paragon of minimalist eco-friendliness, but showcasing an obsession with all things being correct. There’s none of the usual motor industry clutter, walls bedecked with frisky calendars, desks adorned with family photos. Here, the screws are all tightened so the slots are perfectly upright. That way, when Dennis’s dictate runs, any dust will fall straight out.
There’s an impression that were you to open any of the desk drawers at random, all the paperclips would be lined up in precise north to south lines.
Contrary to rumours, It’s Dennis’ ceaseless quest for perfection rather than the constant battles against Formula One’s governing body that has led him to turn his back on the grand prix scene and all its maelstrom to concentrate 101 percent on turning McLaren into a serious producer of roadgoing supercars in volumes that will give the likes of Ferrari some sleepless nights. No more disputes with Formula One supremo Max Mosley, no more need to keep Lewis Hamilton and his father happy, but total concentration on making McLaren a supercar superbrand: “We have a clear vision for the company’s future building road cars, and I need to concentrate my own efforts on making that happen.”
Dennis firmly believes the company is ready, right now, for a great leap forward: “Our reputation has been built on our long and highly successful association with Daimler Benz, and that Mercedes connection helped the company become a highly profitable entity in an industry that so often sees manufacturers posting losses, especially in the present straightened times.
“Now we are ready to stand fully on our own reputation,” Dennis recently told a gathering of Motoring Writers Guild scribes he hosted for a privileged tour of the super secret inner sanctum of the works.
”In April this year, I handed over complete control of the McLaren Formula One team to Martin Whitmarsh so that I could concentrate on developing the McLaren road car,” he added.
With a personal net worth estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List at some £200m, Dennis currently owns some 15 percent of McLaren Group, having sold half his previous one-third interest to the Bahraini Mumtalakat Holding Company who later acquired a further 15 percent stake, while Mansour Ojjeh’s TAG Group has a 15 percent interest and the remaining 40 percent is held by Daimler Benz.
It is key to Dennis’ crystal clear vision of the company’s future that McClaren should become a fully stand-alone brand in its own right, which is why the Mercedes Benz SLR McClaren is being phased out with a dazzling Stirling Moss model of which just 75 will be built over this summer – all of which have already been sold, despite the current hard times and an eye-watering price tag.
Finding the £400 road tax is a minor problem when compared to raising the £815,000 purchase price asked for what is the maddest Merc you’ll ever see. 0-100 kph (62mph)?: a blistering 3.5 seconds. Top speed?: 217 mph. The figures speak for themselves.
The Moss connection is great marketing, for it was Sir Stirling who brought the original 300SLR gullwing Mercedes so many of its classic victories back in 1950s, including the most memorable ever edition of Italy’s renowned Mille Miglia.
It was back in 1981 that Dennis – born in Woking, Surrey, on June 1, 1947 – took the helm of the Formula One team, masterminding its rivalling of the prancing horse squadra of Ferrari as the most successful racing outfit ever, with world championship titles falling to Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Miki Hakkinen and, last year, Lewis Hamilton.
Dennis’s first taste of Formula One had come way back in 1966 when, at the age of 18, he worked for the low budget but exciting Cooper team. He subsequently ran a number of teams up until his big break came, in the early eighties, when John Hogan, an executive at Marlboro team sponsored Phillip Morris, helped engineer what was essentially a reverse take-over of the previously championship winning but by then poorly performing McLaren squad by Dennis’ Project Four operation. It was the start of a magical era, and McLaren became one of the most exciting and successful teams in motor racing history.
Today, at a time when the UK motor industry is in dire need of good news, McClaren seems set on establishing its own brave new world with plans for a truly space age new manufacturing facility right next door to the current technology centre.
“Rumours were going around that this would be created outside this country, and lots of established foreign manufacturing facilities were after the business. You can be assured we will not be straying from home ground,” says Dennis, who estimates the project will create 800 jobs directly within the company and another 1,500 indirectly in Surrey’s local economy.
Designed, like the existing technical centre, by the world-renowned Foster & Partners practice, the new facility will cover nearly 18,000 square metres, and will be single storey and low-profile, in order to have the most minimal possible impact on the landscape, And, like the present technology centre, it will have remarkable levels of energy efficiency, and Dennis is planning to build around 20 cars a day.
The existing technical centre shows what to expect, it features a health club, swimming pool, 600 seater staff restaurant and electronic notice boards that display messages as well as practice times from the grand prix races.
Half the building’s electricity is generated in-house and the curved glass panels of the frontage weigh 40 tonnes each and are part of the overall heating system. Some £2.5m was spent on ceramic tiles alone, all the wiring is hidden, and as creator of this space age temple of technology, Dennis is keen to share his vision, with a visitor and learning centre that, he says, is “90 percent NASA and 10 percent Disney,” adding, ”The aim is to educate, inform and entertain – and we currently welcome 12,000 visitors a year.”
“Designing, developing and selling globally the best sports cars in the world is just half the equation,” says Dennis proudly. “Our aim is to build our cars to previously unmatched levels of quality, with ground-breaking technologies in a totally efficient engineering facility that will be a pleasing place in which to work,” says Dennis with pride, adding, “This will be the UK’s most modern and efficient automotive production facility. What’s more, it will not be some kind of blot on the landscape but will have minimal impact on the environment and will be camouflaged by careful landscaping and a substantial tree-planting programme.
“McClaren now has a 40 year history. It’s a great British company that should, in my view, continue to design, develop and build it products right here in the UK.”