We know we're not supposed to get excited about ambitious, swoopy sketches of supercars that promise the world. But when that swoopy sketch comes from the pen of one of the designers of the seminal McLaren F1, we reckon we're allowed a bit of speculative overenthusiasm.

This is, in theory, a new British sports car designed by ex-McLaren man Jim Dowle, who worked with Gordon Murray on the F1 back in the early 1990s but runs his own design house in Chobham, Surrey.

And we like the way he thinks: although the mechanics of the car are yet to be finalised, Dowle says it will feature a mid-mounted engine developing some 200bhp - not a huge figure, but lively enough in a car weighing just 870kg. Think friendly Lotus Exige and you're on the right track.

It's still in the early stages of development, but Dowle says he hopes to have a prototype running during 2009. If - and it's a big, big if - the car ever makes it to production, expect it to carry a £35 grand price tag.

What's that? Snowball? Hades? Wasn't that what they said about the F1?