McLaren’s P1 GTR design concept is too hot for the street

By Stephen Edelstein August 15, 2014

The McLaren P1 is a 903-horsepower hybrid that can lap the Nurburgring in under seven minutes. What could possibly be better than that?

Meet the P1 GTR. Inspired by the McLaren F1 GTR that one the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, it’s track-only hypercar that threatens to deplete the world’s supply of hyperbole.

Unveiled in “design concept” form at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the GTR is unconstrained by the safety and emissions regulations that govern road-legal cars. Apparently, that’s what it takes to improve on the standard P1’s performance.

The GTR features the same 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 and electric motor as always, but tuned to produce 986 hp. Take that, LaFerrari.

The V8 exhausts through two massive cannons that exit right between the taillights and below a massive rear wing. Flared fenders encase 19-inch center-lock wheels, and the whole car sits lower than stock on non-adjustable suspension.

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The new look isn’t just to intimidate other supercar owners. McLaren says it completely re-engineered the bodywork for better aerodynamics, which is where a significant proportion of the P1 GTR’s increased performance will come from.

McLaren isn’t publishing any specifics on that, but consider this: Each car will come with a driver program that includes instruction and even access to McLaren’s racing simulator. Customers will visit the McLaren Technology Centre in England and work with professionals from the company’s motorsports programs.

It’s a cool perk for what will likely be one of the most expensive cars ever made (base price is estimated at $3.36 million), but probably necessary to keep owners from garnering Youtube infamy.

Not that carspotters will have many opportunities to see a P1 GTR in action. The cars will be run and maintained by McLaren Special Operations, which will presumably deliver them to racetracks for individual drives in a manner similar to Ferrari’s FXX and 599XX programs.

Production of the McLaren P1 GTR begins next year, after the last non-GTR P1 is delivered. McLaren says its engineers are still working on the car, so the final version could be even more extreme than this concept, if that’s even possible.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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