McLaren will reportedly add a dramatic speedster as the next addition to its range-topping Ultimate Series, to sit alongside past greats like the P1 hypercar, track-focused Senna and upcoming Speedtail.
The speedster will be a two-seater designed with a focus on road use, Autocar reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the car.
The source also revealed that the design will take inspiration from earlier open-top sports prototype race cars. Don’t be surprised if there are a few cues pointing to McLaren’s Can-Am racers of the 1960s, like the M1B. Think something like the recently revealed De Tomaso P72, but without a roof.
1966 McLaren M1B Can-Am race car
Power is said to be coming from McLaren’s 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 found in the 720S and Senna, and given the speedster’s road-focused nature we’ll likely see the engine in this application deliver less than the 789 horsepower it produces in the Senna.
Timing wasn’t mentioned but given McLaren’s plan to start production of a 106-car run of Speedstails late this year, it might be late 2020 or early 2021 until production of the speedster commences.
Ferrari has also just launched a retro-inspired speedster in the form of the Monza SP, which comes in single- and two-seater versions. Like the Ferrari, McLaren’s speedster will almost certainly be limited in production.
