According to the British press, McLaren is already planning on making a convertible version of the yet-to-be-released MP4-12C compact supercar. More than that, the rumor has it that it’ll be a retractable hard top like those in Mercedes SL! We know that McLaren is going to expand its business and make new models, but apparently they are going to focus more on the luxury and unnecessary stuff like this, and I don’t know but I think that’s a sissy act from a company that gave us the McLaren F1!

Of course McLaren is always very cautious about the materials they use, so even their retractable hard top will be feather weight thanks to carbon fiber and fancy composites. So concerns about the effect of weight on the car’s performance and handling should be unfounded.The convertible MP4 will be powered by the same 3.8 liter V8 which has over 600 hp.

The hard top MP4-12C will hit the markets sometime in 2011, and as it’s often the case, the drop top version would come in a year or so after that. The company has plans to sell 4000 cars a year in near future and is developing new factories and assembly lines for that.