British company promises road-legal McLaren P1 GTR

By Stephen Edelstein April 24, 2015

The McLaren P1 GTR is pretty much the ultimate supercar, unless you actually want to drive it on a public road, that is.

That’s because the GTR is part of a now-popular breed of track-only supercars. Still, there will probably be a few customers who want their cars to be more than just weekend toys, and have the money to make that happen.

So enter Lanzante, a British company that promises to do road-legal conversions of the P1 GTR on an individual basis, according to Autocar.

It might seem unwise to mess with a car as complicated as the GTR, but Lanzante does have some experience in this area.

The company is known for its work on the P1 GTR’s predecessors, the McLaren F1 and F1 GTR. It also won’t do just any job.

Conversions will be evaluated on an individual basis. Lanzante will consider what the customer wants out of the car and any applicable regulations in the car’s home region before starting any work.

Any modifications will also be “sympathetic” to the stock car and its fire-breathing character, the company says. It would be a shame to mess up one of these cars, which cost an estimated $3.3 million each.

McLaren won’t be involved in the conversion process, but it’s reportedly given its blessing to the project. Lanzante claims to have a good relationship with the carmaker going back to its modified F1 projects.

While the idea of spending over $3 million on a car you can’t even drive to Dunkin’ Donuts seems fairly absurd, it’s actually hard to see why someone would want a road-legal P1 GTR.

All P1 GTRs were sold to owners of the original P1, is already pretty extreme for a road car. It’s hard to exercise the P1’s full 903 horsepower on a public road, let alone the P1 GTR’s 986 hp.

And because it’s built for the track, the P1 GTR was exactly zero creature comforts. Its interior is stripped bare, and the firm suspension probably doesn’t handle potholes well.

Still, it will be pretty cool to see one of these cars prowling a highway or stopped at a traffic light in some real-world town.

We’re happy to enjoy that as long as someone else is spending the money – and risking back injuries – to make it happen.

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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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