McLaren Says 'No Thank You' To Honda Supercar Engines

After a two decade separation, McLaren and Honda will once again team up to conquer the world of Formula One racing in 2015.

However, don't expect to find Honda power plants inside McLaren's future supercars.

"It won't happen,"McLaren Automotive's director of global sales and market Joylon Nash told Australia's Drive. "I mean that in the nicest way, as we are an independent company - we produce pure McLarens."

"There is no need for us to go into partnership with another manufacturer," Nash added.

The two companies' collaboration in the late 1980s became the most successful engine/race team in the history of Formula One. Every indication since the announcement of Honda's return is that McLaren is as happy to have the Japanese automaker around as Honda is to be back.

A spinoff of McLaren's World Championship-winning racing operation, McLaren Automotive first rose to prominence in the early 1990s with its all-conquering McLaren F1 hypercar.

The 240 mph beast became the world's fastest car and rose to near mythical status. To power the F1, McLaren decided to use BMW's 6.1 liter 627 horsepower V-12 engine. To this day, it remains one of the finest engines ever to hit the roads.

However, McLaren's latest super and hypercars no longer depend on outside suppliers for their propulsion. The MP4-12C, P1 and 650s all derive power from McLaren's own 3.8 liter twin-turbocharged V8.

In addition, Honda has been planning the imminent return of its own supercar, the NSX, for the past decade. The NSX is expected to have a V6 hybrid engine.