A £6 million luxury car showroom is to be built in the Midlands to sell the new 200 miles-per-hour McLaren supercar.

McLaren Birmingham will be located at Stratford Road, Hockley Heath and is one of just three dealerships due to open around the end of March next year to sell the £160,000-plus car.

More than 50 people have already placed £15,000 deposits to secure the first cars and this week a number of leading industrialists arrived by helicopter to get their first view of the carbon fibre sports car at a special unveiling at Compton Verney, near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Just 1,000 of the all-British designed McLaren MP4 12C cars will be made in the first year of production and only 250 will be available for sale in the UK.

Powered by a 3.8-litre V8 with twin turbos, the 600 bhp car will accelerate to 62 miles per hour in less than four seconds.

The stunning rear-wheel-drive two-seater is a real eye-catcher with its huge doors which open upwards and outwards and is suitable for the road or the track.

Formula 1 champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have both driven early versions of the cars and given them the thumbs up. In fact the steering wheel design has now been based on the grip that Hamilton uses on the track.

Mike Buffey, the franchise managing director of McLaren Birmingham, said building work at Hockley Heath would be starting soon and he promised a 'stunning showroom'.

"There will be one main entrance from which you will be able to go into the McLaren dealership on one side and our new Rolls-Royce dealership on the other," he said.

"There has been tremendous interest in this car and we expect to be taking in Ferraris and Lamborghinis in part exchange. We will be making sure that the person who buys a McLaren will get a very personal service, which will include face to face discussions with the technician who works on their car."

The opening of the dealership will see the creation of 20 new jobs.