汽車設計師TomiLin車評觀感：

TheMcLaren 650S is the follow up car that McLaren Automotiveintroducedto the world after the MP4-12C. To tell you the truth, theyarepretty much the same car. The difference is the 650S is upgraded with updates to both the engine and the exterior. McLaren 650S 與MP4-12C基本上血脈同源，老實說兩車幾乎是一樣的，唯一的不同是 650S在引擎與外觀上做出改變，骨子裡倒是沒什麼不同。

The first thing that most people will notice will be the front fascia of the car has changed. It is more reminiscent of the big brother, the McLaren P1’s looks. Gone are the more ‘generic’ Supercar looking headlights and intakes in the bumpers, and replacing them are the McLaren Logo, crescent shapes that are more in line with the companylook.

The Design Director for McLaren is the very talented Frank Stephenson,and prior to joining McLaren Automotive in England; he was in chargeof a few famous designs at different companies. The designs that most of us will recognize are the first generation Mini, the Fiat 500, and the Ferrari F430.

大家首先注意到的部分，應該是車頭的嶄新造型，感覺跟P1雷同有幾分復古。此外，我們可從頭燈、進氣口、保桿設計察覺超級跑車的圖騰，這讓McLaren家族的雛形變得較為一致。McLaren的設計總監是FrankStephenson，他才華洋溢算是業界內的才子，加入這個英國公司前，他亦曾活躍於幾間不同的設計工作室，較為耳熟能詳的是Fiat500、FerrariF430，都是出自其手筆。

Rumorhas it that when Mr. Stephenson joined McLaren Automotive to setupthe design studio, the MP4-12C project was already in the end ofdesign,engineering and testing. Therefore Frank Stephenson did nothavea lot of input in the ‘look’ of the car. Most of the hard pointsinthe vehicle are already engineered. This process is due tothe
Formula1 background that the company is known for. A race car isbeautifulbecause it is functional. Nothing is a styling exercise,everythinghas to work and has a function. Engineering over style.Also anothercompany had their turn on the design of the MP4-12CbeforeFrank. Who could that be you ask?

坊間有一種說法，FrankStephenson加入McLaren成立專屬工作室時，MP4-12C的開發計畫已經接近完工，並且走過所需的測試程序。所以，這位大師並沒機會賦予其屬意的設計元素在其中。因為最困難的部分，是整車進入所謂的組裝（Engineered）階段，這代表著可變動的部分很有限。此外，別忘記McLaren本身是活躍一級方程式的頂尖車隊，每樣設計都有其功能存在，多餘綴飾是不允許的，所以機械凌駕設計之上，你無法說服那些工程師以美學觀點，允許一些額外裝飾品出現。況且，MP4-12C主導權不屬於FrankStephenson，那你能使什麼力呢？

Thatcompany is Mercedes Benz! Some of you might remember that McLarenwasusing Mercedes engines for the Formula 1 program and the GermanCompanyhad 29% share in McLaren Technology Group, the parent companyforMcLaren Automotive. It was the Mercedes Design Studio that wasresponsiblefor most of the designs of the MP4-12C!

或許你會有疑問，那主導權是在誰那邊？Mercedes-Benz聽過嗎？這家德國大廠長期以來一直和McLaren為伙伴關係，兩人並肩參戰一級方程式多年，創造諸多光輝歷史。加上，Mercedes-Benz是McLaren科技集團29﹪股東，那還是McLarenAutomotive母公司，所以與其說MP4-12C是McLaren，其實那應該是Mercedes-Benz催生的作品。

Sothe McLaren 650S is Frank Stephenson’s influence on tying up thedesignlanguage for McLaren Automobile product offerings. Giving thecarsa family look and resemblance. P1, 650S, 675LT, 540C, 570SDesignhistory aside, both versions of the car in either the MP4-12Cor650S guise is pretty stunning to look at. The shape and stance ofthevehicle has a lot of presence. It is a head turner for anyone thatsetstheir gaze at it. The car is wide and low, the pre-requisite to whata Super Car should look like. Add scissor doors to the mix andyouhave a winning formula.

Theonly weak area for the 650S design is the mis-match of the newfrontend and old rear graphics.
走筆至此，你就可理解650S即使和“Mercedes-BenzMP4-12C“骨子裡相同，但某種意義卻很不一樣，因為那是被賦予FrankStephenson設計語言的作品，讓McLaren整合到自己家族，和P1、675LT、540C、570一字排開，更重要的是650S低伸與寬扁造型，完美詮釋真格超跑的姿態，尤其那個鍘刀式車門設計，隱約間透露其有別一般超跑的賽車風範。若要抓出不足之處，650S在前、後兩段的設計有點不協調，這是我的觀點。