Whoa: Another McLaren F1?

That's the P11, the supercar we expect to see soonest from McLaren. We all knew they was intent on becoming a true, volume sports brand to compete head on with the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari. But apparently McLaren mean more then just P8's and P11's; a new F1 is in the works as well.

The F1. An amazing, legendary vehicle that put McLaren on the map and in the hearts of automotive fans everywhere. Now they're looking to do that again. McLaren CEO Ron Dennis has relinquished control of the company's F1 Racing Series operations to instead focus on the road car division.

The F1 would be a clean sheet vehicle, designed with the same no-compromises philosophy as the original. While P8 takes aim at the Porsche 911 and P11 at the Ferrari F430 (F450), a reborn F1 would go head-to-head with Bugatti's Veyron and Koenigsegg's CXX.

Unlike last time around, fitting with the company's new outlook, a much larger production run will be planned. This will enable them to spread it out and create more profit as well, something Bugatti is figuring out right now.

The goal is for 4,000 total sales for the McLaren Road Car brand, with 1,000 of those coming from the P11. I think that's a pretty doable goal.

Until the P8 comes online (and maybe even after that), it will be the bread and butter for the brand according to McLaren Design Director Frank Stephenson.  "The P11 is the building block for the whole of the McLaren automotive range." he says. "It's really a Ferrari F430 competitor, and there's plenty of room above that."

I think a new F1, if done right, would create a huge splash enabling the company to parlay that into sales for it's lower end models. It would as a "halo" model, if you will.

He said they're currently working out it's styling direction. Of one thing there is no doubt: repeating - and most definitely outdoing -  the original F1 will be a tall order

Sounds like we're in for a real treat with McLaren; can't wait to see the P11 debut. If everything goes to plan, Britain will have a world-class mid-engined sports car brand of it's own.