McLaren's quest to become the dominant player in the supercar and hypercar world is never-ending. With established competitors like Ferrari and Lamborghini, McLaren can't afford not to be at the top of its game. In fact, it has to outgun its competitors. How so? With an open-cockpit speedster hypercar. Autocar reports that a new, limited production run topless hypercar is in the works from the folks in Woking, UK and it will sit beside the Senna and Speedtail as part of McLaren's Ultimate Series.

While the Senna is heavily track-focused and the Speedtail is aimed at high-speed cruising and aerodynamic efficiency, the upcoming and so far nameless speedster is all about pure driving pleasure. Anything is without a roof. It will be street legal and feature plenty of high-tech. It should go without saying it'll be mid-engined.

One of the things McLaren's design team, led by Rob Melville, cherishes is the fact they can start with a blank sheet of paper for every new model. Unlike say, Ferrari, McLaren is not held back by tradition at some level. Autocar's source hints this new speedster will have a more "fluid" interpretation of McLaren's design language when compared to existing models. And yes, McLaren's now-signature dihedral butterfly doors will return, although they'll be more low-profile. McLaren seems to have taken note of Ferrari's Monza SP1 and SP2 speedsters last year at Paris; there's definitely a market for this body style. Lessons learned from the Senna will be applied to how the speedster drives.

Handling will be extremely agile with high levels of driver response. This dynamic driving experience combined with the open cockpit will result in what could be the most exhilarating McLaren road car to date. As for power, word has it'll be sourced from the firm's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, the very same one found in the Speedtail.

However, it won't receive any electrification. Expect total output to be a bit less than the Senna's 789 horsepower. The dual-clutch transmission will drive the rear wheels. Total weight: less than the Senna's 2,641 pounds. Extensive use of carbon fiber and no roof is what makes that possible. Total production numbers will obviously be very limited, but a grand total of around 500 examples sounds about right.

Pricing will be similar to that of the Ferrari SP1 and SP2, so figure around $1.75 million. Production isn't expected to begin until Speedtail production has been completed, which won't be until late 2020 or early 2021.