McLaren working on a roofless speedster for the Ultimate Series

A “source aware of the car” told Autocar that McLaren is working on a new entry in the Ultimate Series range, an open-topped speedster that will “focus on exhilarating on-road driving.” The British carmaker hasn’t finished building its already-spoken-for quota of Senna GTR models, and after that, Speedtail production is slated to begin toward the end of this year. That pushes whatever this new car might be out to late 2020 or early 2021 at least, and that’s not accounting for development time.The comparison being made is that this will be the English version of Ferrari’s F8-Superfast-based Monza SP1 and SP2 speedsters, with styling reminiscent of open-cockpit prototype race cars. When The Drive asked McLaren about the rumor, the carmaker replied that it is “speaking to potential customers about a new McLaren Ultimate Series model that shares some attributes with the car that Autocar describes.”

Unlike the track-centric Senna or the aero-focused Speedtail, the new roofless car is said to “highlight the more emotional, fun side of McLaren.” That’s a bit like looking for the emotional, fun side of an electromagnetic railgun – and I mean that as a compliment to McLaren – but there’s plenty of feeling to draw from in the carmaker’s past. Autocar‘s source said to expect lines with more elegance and fluidity outside and in, capped by a set of the brand’s trademark dihedral doors. If designers can make Can-Am curves from the McLaren M1B, M6A, or M8B jive seamlessly with modern carbon and combustion internals, we’re ready for it. There’s no reason to let Ferrari – and De Tomaso and Ecurie Ecosse – bogart the retro fun.

Predictions point to the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 providing the power, in this application without hybrid assistance. Slinky lines and no roof could mean a car that weighs less than the 2,641-pound Senna, and since “extremely agile handling” and driver feedback are the priorities, power could be toned down from the 789-horsepower track car.

Autocar mentions a sticker price of something around 1.5 million pounds, roughly $1.9 million in our money. If that’s accurate, paying twice the price of a Senna could pay for exclusivity, with build numbers expected to be fewer than the Senna’s 500 examples. When it arrives, it will be another milestone in McLaren’s Track25 business plan that targets 18 new models and derivatives in the next six years.