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Written by Stephen Dobie
Big news, this: a road-legal McLaren P1 GTR is officially here. Only it"s not called that. In a homage to the most lurid, legendary McLaren F1 of them all, it"s called the McLaren P1 LM. Just try to name another hypercar with such bona fide motorsport kudos dripping from its every element.While it"ll be delivered by McLaren"s Special Operations division, it"s the work of Lanzante, the company which took the old F1 GTR to its surprise Le Mans victory in 1995. Oh, and the company who then converted five GTRs into LMs for the public to buy. Two decades later, it"s repeating the same trick with the P1 GTR track toy.You"d think slapping some number plates on McLaren"s wild, 986bhp hybrid might require a neutering process to ensure it"s tame enough for tarmac use. Happily, not a bit of it. In the words of Lanzante the P1 LM will be "the quickest, rarest and last of the P1 variants".It"s 60kg lighter, for starters, so it should be faster. The drop comes via the removal of the GTR"s air jacks, the use of lightweight seats (apparently from the F1 GTR), plastic windows and titanium bolts and fixings.Like the F1, there"s gold plating in the engine bay, while the powertrain itself a mixture of 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 and electric motors, don"t forget retains its superstar 1000PS figure. A clunky 986bhp, in old money.Lanzante has uprated the aerodynamics, though, however pointless that may seem for use away from a track. A modified rear wing and larger front splitter and dive planes ensure there is a 40 per cent increase in downforce over the P1 GTR. Yikes. Should make the LM even more senior on track, then.As you might expect, there"s much carbon, too. There"s a fully exposed carbon roof and exposed carbon aplenty inside. Helpfully, there"s standard air conditioning, while the LM gets a unique Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel which takes its cues from the McLaren MP4/23 that Lewis Hamilton took to the 2008 F1 title. Told you there was plenty of racing heritage.Buy one and you"ll get some nice little goodies too, namely a full tool kit, a tailored car cover and a 1:8 scale model of your new hypercar. Perhaps a good job given you"ll almost certainly need to wire Lanzante a couple of million for this one. Five will make their way to owners: one of them grey, like the prototype you see here, and the remaining four orange, like those F1 LMs of old.And if you still need convincing it"s cool, then keep an eye on the Goodwood timing boards this weekend. The car you see here will take to the hill with former Indy 500 winner and Goodwood Revival hero Kenny Brack behind the wheel. (Incidentally, he"s also finalising the LM"s development at the N rburgring.)Expect speed. Close to Nick Heidfeld"s record run in an F1 car? We shall see
Date written: 22 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 3958
Big news, this: a road-legal McLaren P1 GTR is officially here. Only it"s not called that. In a homage to the most lurid, legendary McLaren F1 of them all, it"s called the McLaren P1 LM. Just try to name another hypercar with such bona fide motorsport kudos dripping from its every element.While it"ll be delivered by McLaren"s Special Operations division, it"s the work of Lanzante, the company which took the old F1 GTR to its surprise Le Mans victory in 1995. Oh, and the company who then converted five GTRs into LMs for the public to buy. Two decades later, it"s repeating the same trick with the P1 GTR track toy.You"d think slapping some number plates on McLaren"s wild, 986bhp hybrid might require a neutering process to ensure it"s tame enough for tarmac use. Happily, not a bit of it. In the words of Lanzante the P1 LM will be "the quickest, rarest and last of the P1 variants".It"s 60kg lighter, for starters, so it should be faster. The drop comes via the removal of the GTR"s air jacks, the use of lightweight seats (apparently from the F1 GTR), plastic windows and titanium bolts and fixings.Like the F1, there"s gold plating in the engine bay, while the powertrain itself a mixture of 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 and electric motors, don"t forget retains its superstar 1000PS figure. A clunky 986bhp, in old money.Lanzante has uprated the aerodynamics, though, however pointless that may seem for use away from a track. A modified rear wing and larger front splitter and dive planes ensure there is a 40 per cent increase in downforce over the P1 GTR. Yikes. Should make the LM even more senior on track, then.As you might expect, there"s much carbon, too. There"s a fully exposed carbon roof and exposed carbon aplenty inside. Helpfully, there"s standard air conditioning, while the LM gets a unique Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel which takes its cues from the McLaren MP4/23 that Lewis Hamilton took to the 2008 F1 title. Told you there was plenty of racing heritage.Buy one and you"ll get some nice little goodies too, namely a full tool kit, a tailored car cover and a 1:8 scale model of your new hypercar. Perhaps a good job given you"ll almost certainly need to wire Lanzante a couple of million for this one. Five will make their way to owners: one of them grey, like the prototype you see here, and the remaining four orange, like those F1 LMs of old.And if you still need convincing it"s cool, then keep an eye on the Goodwood timing boards this weekend. The car you see here will take to the hill with former Indy 500 winner and Goodwood Revival hero Kenny Brack behind the wheel. (Incidentally, he"s also finalising the LM"s development at the N rburgring.)Expect speed. Close to Nick Heidfeld"s record run in an F1 car? We shall see
Date written: 22 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 3958