McLaren P11 Supercar Back on the Drawing Board

It had been thought the design of the McLaren P11 had been signed off and was just waiting to be engineered into prototype form. But following a report by Autocar we can tell you the model's original designs have been scrapped and its back to the drawing board, a move that will put the model's launch date back by 12 months. It also explains the real reason why the company hired the former BMW, Mini, Fiat and Ferrari designer Frank Stapleton to head up their design team.

Stephenson will join McLaren in a couple of months and he will head up the designs for a small family of supercars set to be launched by the brand as soon as 2009. The engineering side of the development is said to be fixed with the Mercedes-sourced direct-injection 6.2-litre AMG unit mated to a double-clutch gearbox set to be incorporated, however the design is not.

Rumours flying around also state that the P11 will spawn both an open-top and GTR race versions in the future.