The new February 2012 issue of CAR Magazine leads on our exclusive inside story on the new McLaren P12 - Woking's spiritual successor to the F1.

We'll see the new hypercar within the next 12 months, but CAR has compiled a scoop dossier on the P12. Buy the new February issue to see the full set of three artist's impressions, compiled with the help of sources within McLaren who have seen the clay styling buck.

McLaren P12: the artist's impressions

The P12 looks 'like something out of iRobot,' according to our insider – way more dramatic than the supercar-by-numbers MP4-12C.

This is McLaren design chief Frank Stephenson's first clean-sheet design; he could only influence minor details on the 12C, like the front bumper. Hence the double-bubble roof and a canopy-style glasshouse which is said to dominate the front of the P12.

The tech powering the 800bhp McLaren P12

Our eight-page magazine feature reveals plenty of detail about the new McLaren supercar, codenamed P12. It follows in the footsteps of the P11, the project codename which begat the MP4-12C (and also comprehensively scooped by CAR Magazine – four years before it went on sale!).

The P12 will use a similar carbon Monocell structure as the MP4-12C, but with less budgetary restraint – the P12 will cost a reputed €750,000 – there is even more carbon in the bodyshell and structure, to trim weight to the absolute minimum.

The MP4-12C's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 will be used in the P12, but it will be paired with a KERS energy storage system to provide bursts of electric power for overtaking. Our story reveals how early styling mock-ups of the P12's cabin had F1-style pistol grip steering wheels with big red boost buttons to deploy the KERS overtaking boost.

Unlike the original F1, the P12 will have a two-seat cabin, this time; McLaren Automotive managing director Anthony Sherrif told CAR they experimented with a three-seat layout like before, but it messed with the dimensions too much.