What do the Ferrari 458 Italia, Bentley Continental GT, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo and Aston Martin DB9 have in common? Answer: The new McLaren supercar is gunning for them all.

The MP4-12C -- a successor to the McLaren F1 -- certainly has the performance bona fides to compete with such a rarefied crew: The 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 puts out around 600 horsepower and 442 lb-ft. of torque, and the car boasts many features repurposed from the team's F1 racers, such as its 7-speed "seamless shift" gearbox; a braking system lifted directly from the track models; and Proactive Control suspension with three performance modes, including High Performance, which McLaren says will provide more of an F1 feel than any other car on the road.

For more images of the new McLaren MP4-12C, click here.

The completely bespoke machine (not a single part comes from any car manufacturer other than McLaren) was designed by former MINI designer Frank Stephenson and was the brainchild of McLaren F1 boss Ron Dennis. What's most notable about this is that the timeless sports-car look that Stephenson was going for (and, by the look of these pictures, achieved brilliantly) is meant to usher in an entire line of McLaren supers, according to Dennis' plan, including a "high" category model to battle it out with the Lambo Murcielago and others. This means the British company will be fighting for market share on a grand scale with the likes of those names listed above. However it plays out, the supercar world just got a little more crowded, but a lot more interesting.