Carmakers don’t get enough credit for dreaming up new names for their performance cars. Sure, the tried-and-tested R, GTR, S and RS all get the point across, but they’re as overused as Ford switchgear in old Astons. Not like Hyundai naming its sports division N (supposedly for Nurburgring, but probably to have a poke at BMW M as well), Toyota making ‘Gazoo’ sound cool with its various GR models and Lexus associating the letter F, once the least sporty character of the alphabet, with burly V8s and howling V10s.
Arguably the most creative of the last decade is the McLaren LT, a name that was just as novel as the cars that wore it. Taking inspiration from the stretched F1 GTRs that tore around Le Mans in the '90s, the LT - or 'long tail' - would not only be the lighter and more powerful model, but also a longer one so that McLaren could squeeze in a chunky rear diffuser for extra high-speed grip. The first ‘new’ long tail, the 675LT, extended the base 650S by a whopping 33mm, which, admittedly, is barely perceptible on a ruler, but it did bring a not insignificant 40 per cent increase in downforce. Most of McLaren’s series production cars got the LT treatment, too, but the P1 - the closest ancestor to the F1 prior to the GMA T.50 - was unfortunately overlooked.
That was until Lanzante, the firm behind the Le Mans-winning and the road-going conversions of the P1 GTR, decided to take matters into its own hands with the car you see here. Called the P1 GT, the stretched hybrid hypercar was heavily influenced by the one-of-three, road-going F1 long tail, with a drastically extended rear end mimicking the streamlined silhouette of Woking’s homologation special. Unlike the original, the P1 GT was incredibly complex in its design. The longer tail allowed for a ginormous diffuser, much bigger than anything McLaren was putting on its LTs, as well as a humungous rear wing that made the P1 GTR look positively puny by comparison.
It’s not just the tail that got a rework, either. The front was completely overhauled with a larger splitter, bespoke carbon fibre canards and louvres over the wheel arches, while a wider skirts run down either side of the cockpit. Above it sits a monster scoop, mimicking that of the F1 GT’s, funnelling vast amounts of air into the GTR’s 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8 hybrid engine with an unchanged 1,000hp on tap. So extensive were the modifications that it’s said only the doors and bonnet were carried over from the GTR, with every other carbon fibre panel tailor made for the GT.
At the time we thought the P1 GT was a one-and-done project, supposedly built for an immensely wealthy individual in the Middle East. As it turns out, three more would get produced, including a particularly striking example finished in the Gulf colours. But the one you see here is the very first Lanzante converted and served as the show car at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. As such, it closely resembles the spec of McLaren’s own F1 GT, from the ‘XP Green’ paintwork to the part-green, part-tan leather seats. And while the car first appeared with the P1 GTR’s multi-spoke rims, it’s now wearing a set of five spokes that better resemble those of the F1 GT.
Quite how much money you’ll need to get the keys will require a call to the seller, which I’m sure will come as a surprise to no one. For reference, the GT conversion was roughly £500k on top of the £2.0m asking price of a P1 GTR. That was back in 2018, however, and it’ll doubtlessly have gone up in value in that time. Just take at this standard P1 (albeit with just 29 miles on the clock) for £1.8m as an example, or this 230-mile GTR for £2.82m. The GT will surely cost more than that, but it’ll be a heck of a lot rarer and, unlike the GTR, be useable on the road, too.
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