► McLaren builds 10,000th car

► MPC factory in Woking milestone

► Britain's supercar maker on a roll

McLarens have always been fast, but there's a new speed record in Woking town: zero to five figures in... five years?

Yes, McLaren Automotive has built its 10,000th car at its new factory – a 570S finished in Ceramic Grey, a paint colour picked from the bespoke MSO division. It won’t be sold, though – it'll reside in the company's heritage vaults.

The first modern McLaren, the MP4-12C, was built in 2011 and the company has gone from strength to strength in that time.

Where we applauded the modern manners of the 12C, it ultimately lacked the soul and polish of the contemporary Ferrari 458 Italia in CAR magazine's first group test. Tellingly, all our UK rivals came to the same conclusion...

McLaren Automotive: on a roll

Fast forward five years, and things have moved on. The latest sports cars from Woking are now among the very best in the world.

For example, the McLaren 675LT Spider beat all-comers to claim the title to CAR magazine’s Sports Car Giant Test 2016. See it in action in our video below.

The McBoss speaks

Chief executive officer Mike Flewitt said: ‘The production of the 10,000th McLaren is a significant milestone in the short history of the company. The fact that it took us 42 months to build our 5000th car and just 22 months to build the next 5000 speaks volumes about the pace of development of the company.

‘Much of that development is thanks to the introduction of the Sports Series family of cars and it’s therefore fitting that the 10,000th car is a McLaren 570S.’

Woking added a second shift at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in spring 2016, doubling capacity to 20 cars a day. It will build more than 3000 cars this year.

Click here for McLaren reviews by CAR magazine