Well, we all kind of saw this coming. Following the enormous success of McLaren Automotive, which resulted in the creation of the P1 hyper car and after that the P1 GTR hyper track car, the company is now confident enough to think about reviving the big one, the irreplaceable McLaren F1. We wonder if this thing has had anything to do with Ron Dennis’ departure.

Before you get too excited, though, we have to point out that the three-seat spiritual successor to the legendary F1, codenamed BP23 for Bespoke Project 2 and featuring three seats, is going to be built by MSO (McLaren Special Operations) and limited to just 106 units all of which have already been pre-sold. Such is the power of this company that they sell cars they haven’t even designed yet.

The work has just begun on shaping the car on paper, but McLaren is confident they can deliver the first examples in early 2019. As with any MSO product, the owners are going to be part of the building process, being able to select “colour, trim and other points of personalization.” One feature of the car they can share with us is that it will have dihedral doors that will cut into the roof and are powered for the first time. As for why they are only making 106 units, that’s the production number for the F1.

On the announcement of the project, McLaren Automotive’s Chief Executive Officer, Mike Flewitt, said: “BP23 will borrow the three seat layout with the central driving position made famous by the iconic McLaren F1, and it will be housed in a streamlined, shrink-wrapped carbon fibre body of great elegance. We are calling BP23 a ‘Hyper-GT’ because it’s a car designed for longer journeys, but with the high levels of performance and driver engagement expected of any McLaren.  A hybrid powertrain will make it one of the most powerful McLarens yet created but the car will also deliver the highest levels of refinement, enabling significant journeys to be undertaken with up to three people aboard.”