Ron Is Cooking Up A Three-Seater McLaren F1 Successor

The McLaren F1 is one of the greatest icons of the motoring world. But for all its noise, fury and record-breaking speed, one particular feature stands out: the seating arrangement. Its unusual layout of having the driver in the middle, with passengers either side and set slightly further back, is something McLaren Automotive has yet to resurrect, but that’s all set to change. Yep, the McLaren F1 is coming back, and it looks like it’s going to be awesome.

According to a report in Autocar, the mighty F1 will be reborn via a McLaren Special Operations effort, with the publication’s source suggesting 64 cars built costing £2 million each. Suddenly, the P1 looks pretty cheap, no?

Power will come from the familiar 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8, putting out around 700bhp. That means it’s not significantly more powerful than the 24-year-old original F1, and it won’t have the required poke to trouble the hardcore, lightened 675LT. That’s because - unlike the car it’s riffing off - the new F1 isn’t intended to be a record-chasing, all powerful monster: it’s supposed to be a ‘hyper GT’.

It’ll be built on an extensively revised version of McLaren’s MonoCell tub to allow for the three-seater configuration, and all the bodywork will be carbonfibre. It’ll look stunning too, if the render Autocar sent over (top of page) is anything to go by. I’m sure you’ll join me in saying hnnnnng.

The jolly lucky 64 customers are expected to get their hands on the cars in 2018.