Frank Stephenson has been the design director at McLaren Automotive since 2008. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1959, Stephenson was raised in Europe, including stints in Turkey and Spain. He speaks seven languages. After finishing high school, Stephenson successfully raced motocross bikes in Europe for six years. He graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, in 1986.

WOKING, England – The 2014 McLaren P1 is not about launching a new, hyper-exotic carbon-fiber supercar. It's not a Pagani, nor is it a Spyker or a Mosler. It's certainly not a Vencer, a Mazzanti, a Saker or any of those odd cars of questionable provenance that make it to the floor of the Geneva motor show. And it's not a Lamborghini, although like Lamborghini, the P1's maker has 50 years of building cars under its belt -- in this case, mostly for Formula 1 and CanAm.

Sum Up

McLaren's X-1 one-off is an absolutely fascinating vehicle. It's exquisitely made, embodying almost all current advanced-technology methodologies and materials. It's the perfect expression of one very highly qualified person's conception of the ideal supercar. Unfortunately, that qualification lies not in design competence but in the ability to pay.

The McLaren 12C has a secret: The coupe's roof is little more than an aluminum-and-glass toupee that's been Krazy-glued in place with scant concern for structural rigidity. Put another way, the new 12C Spider is essentially as stiff as the fixed-roof car -- without any additional bracing.

The limited-edition P1 due to go on sale late next year is claimed to outperform, outbrake, and outhandle just about every other street-legal driving machine on the planet. How, exactly, the Brits intend to achieve these goals will remain a mystery for the next nine months, but we'll try to shed some light on the secret technology behind the eye-catching carbon-fiber street-and-track thoroughbred.

That massive hunk of steel in your driveway is slowly corroding into obsolescence -- both figuratively and literally. About the time that rust finally eats through the floorboards of your shiny new 2012 model, you'll be able to purchase -- no, afford -- a plastic car.

It just wouldn't be a Geneva Motor Show without a wild Mansory-tuned vehicle - and sure enough, the tuning firm revealed it'll bring a customized McLaren MP4-12C super car to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show next week.

The British gentleman to Ferrari's boisterous 458, the MP4-12C is a supercar with a measure of restraint. Its styling is far more understated than the Ferrari's, but the McLaren houses technological innovations taken straight from Formula 1. Chief among them is its carbon-cell construction, but the 12C contains some other tricks that even Ferrari hasn't managed. Its advanced suspension trades antiroll bars for a hydraulic system of interconnected dampers that almost completely eliminates unwanted body motions and at the same time allows this supercar to ride almost like a luxury car. Under heavy braking, an air brake deploys in the rear to help slow the vehicle. Rather than rely on displacement and revs, the 12C uses two turbochargers to boost power and keep fuel consumption in check. The 3.8-liter V-8 engine uses a flat-plane crank, like Ferrari's V-8s, so the sound coming from the high-mounted rear exhausts is pure supercar. However, even though its tone is supercar, the volume isn't. It runs quietly enough that it won't disturb the neighbors, and in the cabin, a guttural intake honk is the dominant sound. By the time the tach needle hits its 8500-rpm redline, the turbos are well out of lung capacity, but the MP4-12C sprints to 62 mph in as little as 3.1 seconds, and top speed is 205 mph. The 12C's interior is superbly finished and fabulously refined. This is a supercar that you could easily spend days in--whether beating on Ferraris at the track or running to the supermarket for that special bottle of olive oil.

Two days, two totally different driving experiences, two key questions.

Can the new McLaren MP4-12C dethrone the Ferrari 458 Italia?

And how do these two high flyers compare to the sports car establishment?

True, it would have been nice to include the exciting new Lamborghini Aventador, and perhaps even the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, in this contest, but we had to draw the line somewhere. That's how the 1200-hp Bugatti and the $390K Lambo fell off the grid, as did the Gumperts, Koenigseggs, and Paganis of this world. In the end, we picked the following six competitors: Audi R8 5.2 coupe, Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Spyder Performante, McLaren MP4-12C, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, and Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Past masters like the Nissan GT-R, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the Jaguar XKR-S, and the Aston Martin DBS would arguably also fit in, but for clarity and compatibility we decided to concentrate on the newest and most advanced variations of the breed. The showdown was staged on the "world's fastest" racetrack in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England (day one), as well as on the most challenging rural roads of North Wales (day two). Ready for the ride of your life? Then come aboard, buckle up, and take a deep breath.

At board meetings, on test tracks, and in design studios, decisions are being made today that will influence what you drive tomorrow. Automakers are hard at work creating the next generation of automobiles -- cars that are faster, sexier, more efficient -- while trying to keep their development secret. Like you, we are nosy as hell. Unlike you, we have a vast network of snoops, gossips, and disgruntled former employees who have helped us uncover the information we present here. Our annual Sneak Preview feature contains the industry's future products -- as far out as 2019 -- that are worth saving your milk money for.

"Winning isn't everything," the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi used to posit. "It's the only thing." A quotable quip from the stoic bard of the '60s gridiron-actually first uttered by UCLA Bruins football coach "Red" Sanders in 1950-it's been memorialized over the years as a uniquely American sentiment. But there's little doubt that it also translates well into the "English" English spoken around McLaren's headquarters in Surrey, England.

At a press conference at its ultra-modern facility in Woking, England, McLaren Automotive took the wraps off its MP4-12C supercar -- actually, it was Vodafone/Mercedes/McLaren F1 team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who did the honors. The two have already test-driven prototypes , and put in orders for their personal cars. Being an F1 driver has its perks.

It started with a one-word e-mail: "Gumball."

Will the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression ever end? The twinkle of headlights from a bevy of 200-mph-plus supercars at the end of today's dark tunnel says "yes" and "soon." Next year, Ferrari will launch its 458 successor to the F430, and Mercedes-Benz will roll forth the tantalizing SLS AMG Gullwing. The McLaren MP4-12C should nudge leading economic indicators upward sometime in 2011.