McLaren boss Flewitt said no more than 399 examples would be built at a price between the £750,000 Senna and the £2.1m Speedtail. While the Senna fills the McLaren brief of being the most focused road-legal track car, and the Speedtail majors on ultimate straight-line speed, the third Ultimate Series model will be all about open-top exhilaration. Flewitt says the new open-cockpit roadster “will take road-focused driving pleasure to new levels.”
There are few technical details, apart from confirmation that the car will use a version of the firm’s familiar carbon-fibre safety cell. As the lightest car McLaren Automotive has made – beating the 1,188kg of the Senna GTR – it is sure to have a full carbon body as well.
All the company is saying on the powertrain is that it will be a version of the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 from the Senna. In its ultimate 825PS (814bhp) form in the 1,188kg track-only GTR, it delivers a power-weight ratio of 694PS/tonne.
If the new roadster matches or beats that, in a road car with no roof or windscreen, we can only see performance fireworks ahead…