It doesn’t matter how the McLaren Senna looks to our eyes, it only matters that it’s beautiful to the wind. That’s because the Senna’s sole mission was to beat every other street-legal car around every race track in the world. To do that, it needed aerodynamic efficiency and downforce.

Normal supercars have to be all things to its buyers — a multi-tool, if you will — but the Senna was so sharply focused on laptimes that it could forego things like sound deadening and fully opening windows.

Insider information suggests that the P15 project was originally meant to become McLaren’s entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but changes to sanctioning-body rulebooks and speed bumps in the company’s financial situation derailed that goal. Instead, the P15 morphed into the Senna, which as the company’s most extreme street-legal Ultimate-Series car, would help recoup its development costs.

As a specialized tool to perform one job — being fast around a track — this McLaren is a screaming success. Today, the Senna holds many production-car lap records.

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ISSIMI’s “Spotlight” series gives automotive enthusiasts and collectors an in-depth look at rare, interesting, and important cars. “Spotlight” is an editorial wiki video that, first and foremost, provides context, answering the question “why is this car important?”

With his trademark balance of insight and comedy, automotive journalist Jason Cammisa combines the facts with editorial insight, allowing the audience to walk away with a cursory understanding of each featured car. Wherever possible, Spotlight will include driving footage and acceleration footage with high-quality audio to provide a first-person experience of sight, sound, and motion that words alone never could.

ISSIMI is an enthusiast-owned, full-service specialist offering sales, consignment, collection management, service, and consulting to discerning enthusiasts and collectors. Specializing in complex transactions that include international services for exceptional cars, ISSIMI’s San Francisco Bay Area and Europe-based teams of experts pride themselves on transparency and knowledge. ISSIMI also produces enthusiast editorial media, including “Spotlight,” “Jason Cammisa on the Icons,” “The Carmudgeon Show,” and “Proper Care & Feeding of Cars.” Some of the vehicles featured in these editorial products, including the subjects in this Spotlight video, may be listed for sale through ISSIMI’s platform. Please check ISSIMI.com for more information.