McLaren F1 May Be Resurrected As a 3-Seat Grand Tourer
Sounds like sacrilege, sure. But hear this out.
British sports car manufacturer McLaren might be returning to one of its greatest hits, but it could be more remix than reprise. According to a new report, McLaren is planning on resurrecting the three-seat F1—but as a super-fast grand tourer, instead of a record-setting supercar.
Autocar, citing a source inside McLaren, claims the carmaker's engineers have been tasked with resurrecting the iconic supercar as the fastest gran turismo ever to roam the roads, rather than a monstrous machine that would topple the P1 from atop the McLaren performance hierarchy. But the car's link to the fabled F1 will reportedly be very obvious; apart from the iconic three-seat layout, the new "hyper-GT," as McLaren is supposedly calling it, will also boast dihedral doors and a roof-mounted air intake, just like Gordon Murray's 1990s-era baby.
“It applies the F1’s three-seat configuration to a different need: rapid, cross-continental travel with supreme speed and style,” an inside source told Autocar. “The result will be the most exquisitely crafted and luxurious road-going McLaren yet made.”
Another way the hyper-GT will be similar to the F1 (and differ from the P1): It will not be a hybrid. Instead, the car is expected to be powered solely by a 700-plus horsepower version of the same 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 found in everything from the 570S to the P1 LM. It should still be quick enough to bruise the back of your skull when you mash the throttle, however; the power-to-weight ratio is expected to eclipse the 650S.
All this road-going speed won't come cheap, however. Autocar suggests the F1 redux could cost around £2 million, which correlates to around $2.7 million today. Then again, depending on how Brexit turns out, that could work out to 20 grand here in the States by the time the car is expected to arrive around the year 2020.
