McLaren will reveal the second variant of its MP4-12C sports car on July 3rd, meanwhile they’ve provided a video of F1 driver Jenson Button eulogising about the extra-sensory stimulation of open-top motoring.

Do we care what Jenson thinks? Not really. He’s undoubtedly a world class race driver, but he’s unlikely to say it’s rubbish, is he?

The MP4-12C Spider will come with the same 616bhp twin-turbo V8-engine as fitted to the newly upgraded hardtop 12C, but McLaren say it’s an even more sensory experience sans roof, especially at the speeds the 12C Spider is capable of.

In the video filmed at last weekend’s European Grand Prix, McLaren questions Jenson about the appeal of fresh-air motoring and the sights, sounds and smells of driving at 300km/h.

The MP4-12C is the first of three road cars planned for McLaren Automotive manufactured at the new McLaren Production Centre in Woking, still to come is a sub-£100k Porsche 911 rival and a successor to the iconic McLaren F1 due to compete with Ferrari’s new Enzo.

The 12C Spider will be released for sale in the next few days and available to order across the company’s network of official dealers.

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