Saar: The hybrid three-seater hyper car, which will enter production by the end of 2019, houses a petrol-electric power plant with 10,50PS on tap.

The story of McLaren’s latest entrant in Ultimate Series portfolio began unfolding in November 2016. Back then, the model was codenamed as BP23 and it was officially christened as Speedtail in the month of July this year. Earlier in the same month, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren’s head honcho announced that the Track22 business plan has been upgraded to Track25. Under it, a total of 18 new models or derivatives will be launched by the year 2025. The McLaren Speedtail is the first of the lot.

Before we dive into the details of the McLaren Speedtail, let’s see what Mike Flewitt, CEO, McLaren Automotive, had to say about it in an official release:

“McLaren has never built a vehicle like the Speedtail before. As our first ‘Hyper-GT’, the Speedtail is the ultimate McLaren road car; a fusion of art and science that combines an astonishing maximum speed with an iconic central-driving position and a truly pioneering approach to bespoke personalisation.”

Those are a bunch of bold claims from a brand that has built some of the greatest super sports cars like the McLaren P1 and the F1. You can relate the Speedtail to those two greats from the past. It tries to recreate the magic of the F1’s recipe and builds on the technical prowess of the P1. Let’s touch upon the F1 bit first.

What was the standout aspect of the McLaren F1, apart from being the fastest car in the world in the early 90s? It was, of course, the three-seat layout. The McLaren Speedtail takes the same layout and makes it feel like a product from the present. The centrally-mounted, three-spoke steering wheel is accompanied by a bunch of displays which includes a digital instrument cluster, an infotainment display and two rear-view displays for either side. Yes, the McLaren Speedtail has cameras instead of traditional OVRMs.

The controls to start the engine, for the powered dihedral doors, power windows and to turn on the Active Dynamics Panel and engage Velocity mode are located in panels above the driver’s head. The top of the windscreen has a patch of electrochromic glass which, at the touch of a button, becomes opaque.

So, what does the Speedtail have in common with the McLaren P1? The power-plant! Actually, the same kind of power-plant. The McLaren Speedtail is powered by a petrol-electric hybrid heart that puts out 1,050PS of power. That makes it the most powerful road-legal McLaren ever made. And the performance figures are just as biblical. Forget the 0-100kmph or 0-200kmph times. This can do the 0-300kmph sprint in just 12.8 seconds and top out at 403kmph at full stretch. That also gives it the title of the fastest road-legal McLaren ever.

And those figures mean a lot more when you consider that the McLaren Speedtail is over 1.4 tonnes in weight and is 5.2 metres in length. In case you are wondering what the size of the petrol motor is, we don’t know. McLaren hasn’t revealed that information as of now. But, in all probability, it will be a 4.0-litre V8.

To achieve those performance figures, McLaren engineers have worked to make the Speedtail as slippery through the air as possible. For instance, as soon as the Velocity mode is activated, the cameras on either side are retracted inside the doors and the car hunkers down by 35mm. Other clever touches include carbon fibre front-wheel static aero covers. They remain fixed in position as the front, 20-inch wheels rotate. The flat surface on the front wheels smoothens the airflow and the car cuts through the air with minimal effort.

Like the F1, only 106 specimens of the McLaren Speedtail will ever be made. All have already been reserved at a price starting 1.75 million GBP plus taxes. A public debut is due for the new speed king from Woking, England. Deliveries of the McLaren Speedtail are likely to begin only by early 2020 as it will enter production by the end of next year.