A worker from the factory was taking the car for its first test drive, and almost instantly crashed it into another car. The MP4-12C was being tested ahead of being delivered to an expectant customer, and according to The Mail ended up in bushes by the side of the road.

Workers at the McLaren factory were working non-stop to see if any of the car could be salvaged, and a passenger from the other vehicle said there was a big dent and damaged wheel of the car he was traveling in. The McLaren suffered damage to the bonnet and front wheels, and a spokesman from the manufacturer said it may be a complete write-off.

The car had only just rolled off the production line, and was undergoing its usual shake-down drive to make sure everything was working. It had pulled away from the side of the road and lost control before hitting the car coming the other way.

Luckily no one was hurt in the accident, and the car is capable of reaching speeds of 205mph with only 4,000 being made. McLaren has stressed the car wasn’t speeding and everyone involved went straight home after the accident that happened on the A320 in Woking.

There is likely to be one frustrated customer and a pretty embarrassed McLaren employee, but at least the only thing that got hurt was someone’s pride. Hit the link to see the car after the accident.

Looking on the official McLaren website you can see a huge choice of options in order to make your MP4-12C more unique, the first is with the paint; if you are not happy with the Elite Volcano Orange then you can choose Satin Orange, which is even more striking. If that was not enough to wet your appetite then maybe the new vendors or improved aero features might just do the job instead?

However, a supercar would not be a supercar without carbon, so you will be happy to know that you can add this material of choice to the rear exhaust, engine cover gills, and also the windshield cowl. This not only makes the car lighter but also ads more strength and a bit of rawness to it as well – something that you would not normally associate with McLaren.

To add to that rawness you can even opt for polished black wheels and roof panel. Having spent some time with the configurator the choices seem to be endless, we had fun making a few different choices – even though the car will never grace our driveway. For those who can afford one, then we would advise not to get too carried away, as that $270,000 price tag will increase at an alarming rate.

The MP4-12C is an important car for McLaren, as it is the first model that they have that is not over the top and will be able to compete with certain Ferrari models. Visit the official McLaren website for more details.

Auto Week are reporting that McLaren have said that there will be as many as 1,000 MP4-12C’s built this year. The car, McLarens’ first since the mighty F1will sell for $231,400 in the US, and £168,500 in the UK. Made from a one-piece carbon fiber shell, the MP4-12C is said to be able to accelerate from 0 to 200 km/h in less than ten seconds.

It is powered by a 3.8-liter V8 which produces 592hp, which will give it a top speed in excess of 322 km/h. It is due to go on sale in late summer around the world in 35 markets, including ten in North America.

Once you have purchased your McLaren MP4-12C, you will need to accessorize it. The supercar is set to get its own special edition Tag Heuer watch according to a report on Auto Guide. Only 1000 of these are going too made and will be available towards the end of 2011. Check a video of the McLaren MP4-12C in action below.

Michelle Koueiter from Autoweek believes that the price for North America will be between $230,000 and $250,000.

The most up-to-date details we have is that the MP4-12C, which is to be built at McLaren’s HQ in Woking, Surrey, England are as follows: The 3.8-liter V8 with its twin-turbo will produce 592hp, and will have a top speed of over 200mph. According to Wikipedia the car will go from 0 to 124mph in just 10 seconds – mine takes that to get to 60mph.

Only 1,000 units will be made in its first production run, but another 4,000 will follow each year. This will be the first full production car from McLaren, although I cannot say that this is any standard production model.

Like all production cars, the McLaren MP4-12C has a number of customization options, such as different paint schemes and interior trims. For more details on other options visit Autoweek.

The guys may be rivals on the racetrack, but here they were friends doing PR work for their employers – the run up the hill was not timed. The British racing team had a 12C validation prototype and a rolling chassis for fans to see what lies beneath the sexy car.

This is the first car that will be part of a dealership in the U.S.; we recently covered some news about the list of dealers that will open in North America. From what we have seen the McLaren MP4-12C should do very well, and there is even plans for a new version of the ever popular McLaren F1 from the 90s.

Other cars at Goodwood Festival of Speed were the Ferrari 599 GTO, Bugatti Veyron Pur Sang, Zonda F and the Lamborghini Reventón. For more details read Jonathan Schultz’s article over at NYTimes

We can also tell you that McLaren plans to announce another few names in a few months, one of which will be Miami. The supercar maker expects to start selling the MP4-12C in about one-year from now – we just hope that you have between $225,000 and $250,000 going spare.

McLaren Automotive, which is run by McLaren F1’s former team principle Ron Dennis expects to produce about one thousand cars each year, and with more models on the way, expects that number to increase to 4,000 units.

McLaren is taking a huge gamble, but there is no question that they know how to build cars – you only have to look at the Mercedes-Benz SLR to see. Oh and they currently lead the F1 drivers and constructors championship.

With McLaren best known for its F1 achievements the MP4-12C will kick off a new range of McLaren sports cars.

The MP4-12C is a rear-wheel-drive 600 BHP super-car, powered by a mid-mounted 3.8 litre V8 with 443 pound-feet of torque.

As yet no performance figures have been released, though the chances are that the super-car will be aimed at Lamborghini’s Gallardo and Murciélago as a car that you can live with on a daily basis. That being said there is no doubt that comparisons will be made against McLaren’s legendary F1 road car.

Head over to AutoBlog for more tasty pictures.