KNUTSFORD welcomed a supercar on Thursday as McLaren opened its new showroom in the heart of the town.

McLaren Manchester unveiled the state-of-the-art unit during a celebration at its showroom in Canute Place.

Formerly the Rolls Royce showroom, car dealer Sytner spent £750,000 and eight months transforming the site.

As one of only three McLaren showrooms in the UK, the launch of McLaren Manchester completes a trio of exclusive car brands that now dominate the town.

Themed around ‘Defining moments in history’, the launch of the showroom revealed the McLaren MP4-12C sports car along with Mika Hakkinen’s 1998 Formula 1 World Championship-winning car.

However the road car won’t be cheap, setting you back around £175,000 – the average price of a home in Albert Street a five minute walk away.

The Knutsford showroom will be one of 35 retailers worldwide to sell the McLaren range of high-performance sports cars.

Jon Crossley, managing director, said: “We are extremely proud to be welcoming McLaren to Knutsford and bringing this iconic brand to the north.

“As the McLaren Automotive brand continues to grow globally, we are delighted to be a part of these defining moments in McLaren’s history.

“We look forward to delivering an elite range of sports cars to our customers, old and new, and welcoming them to the stunning new showroom.”

McLaren has invested nearly £800m since 2005 to establish itself as the world’s newest sports car company.

That investment has focused on the development of a range of innovative, technologically ground-breaking, and bespoke high-performance cars, as well as the construction of a brand new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre (MPC), at the company’s headquarters in Surrey.

The Canute Place showroom joins McLaren Birmingham and London as the only three retailers in the UK.