McLaren is reportedly developing a two-seat open-cockpit super car, as revealed during an Autocar exclusive.
Making up part of McLaren’s ‘Ultimate’ range, the as yet unnamed open car will sit alongside the 1036bhp Speedtail and the 789bhp Senna.
Unveiled in 2013 with the release of the infamous McLaren P1, the ‘Ultimate’ range unsurprisingly sits at the top of the McLaren catalogue as the most powerful, technical and expensive cars. Behind it is the ‘Super’ series with the 720s models and then the ‘Sports’ series behind that with the more modestly-powered cars.
Sitting within the pantheon of all all-time most powerful McLarens, the open-cockpit car will boast an in-house 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged petrol engine according to Autocar. Unlike the Speedtail and P1 before it, the open car will not have any electrics going on or hybrid-tech. It’s about raw octane action right here.
Recently, we reported that @McLarenAuto was planning a new limited-run speedster as the next model in its Ultimate Series line of hypercars. Now, it's official, and the Ferrari Monza SP2 rival will hit the road in 2020 https://t.co/xZnjFDnQVP pic.twitter.com/2mbuE8ff2w
— Autocar (@autocar) August 16, 2019
Unlike the Speedtail which has aerodynamics at the forefront of the design prerogative, the unnamed car is to be made with fluidity in mind. It’s drawn up to evoke ideas of flow and wind shaping the car rather than science. Autocar predicts that elegant lines will be a big part of the car.
Not only is there a focal shift to elegance over efficiency, it is said that unlike that of the Senna, this car is built for road driving rather than tearing round a track.
Autocar rendering of the unnamed vehicle
Many of the specs of this car are as yet unknown, it’s said it will weigh less than the 1198kg Senna trackcar, and given the car’s focus as a road-dwelling vehicle, it can be expected to be less powerful than the Senna. Being in the ‘Ultimate’ series however shows it’ll be more powerful than anything in the ‘Super’ series, meaning we can expect some kind of bhp over 720.
The open-cockpit choice has been chosen as to maximise the ‘pure pleasure of driving’ according to reports. The agile handing, high response, the wind in your hair and the bugs in your mouth, all of which could be yours in the near future for a cool US $1.8 million.
Autocar predicts there will be no more than 500 and will start being built in early 2021.
