There are few supercars that captivated people as much as the McLaren F1 did when it came out more than two decades ago. Even though it has been around for a very long time, the fact that it can reach a top speed of 240.1 miles-per-hour makes it the fastest naturally aspirated production car in the world. It was the unusual driving position that intrigued people the most with the driver being placed in the center and passengers on either side. McLaren has confirmed that a spiritual successor to the F1 is now in the pipeline.
The McLaren F1’s unusual seating position is coming back with a “Hyper-GT” car that’s codenamed the BP23 by the company. “People have always wanted to order a spiritual successor to the F1,” says John Paolo Canton, head of public relations for McLaren, and the company is following through on that with the new car.
The McLaren F1 was a very special car when it arrived back in 1992. It was the first to be built around a carbon fiber monocoque and its 6.1-liter V12 engine was the first to break the 100 horsepower per liter barrier.
It’s unclear how the BP23 is going to take the baton forward but Canton does mention that “it is definitely going to be hybrid,” adding that the exact configuration hasn’t been decided yet. The only thing you can be sure of is that the BP23 is going to be very hard to come by and that it’s going to be very expensive. McLaren is only going to build 106 units just like it built 106 units of the F1.