Who is Lanzante? And what have they done to the P1?!
Lanzante is a historic British automotive company most famous for winning the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans with a McLaren F1 GTR. Since then, they’ve become one of the leading service centres for some of McLaren’s most exotic automobiles.
This is their latest creation: a roofless version of McLaren’s venerable P1 hypercar.
Isn’t the P1 getting on a bit in years?
First revealed to the world in 2012, the world has had a decade to familiarise itself with the P1’s arresting bodywork. And yet, seeing it again today in Spider form, the P1 remains an utterly sensational piece of design.
Six months ago, Lanzante was approached by a customer with the idea of a convertible P1. And rather than having a crack at creating a convertible P1 themselves, Lanzante employed the help of one of the designers of the original coupe model, Paul Howse. The result, as I’m sure you’ll agree, is sublime.
The P1 Spider is the sort of car that causes you to take a second, third, and even fourth look when you walk past. It is mesmerising.
Remind me of the performance figures.
Even in a world ruled by EVs, the P1 remains an impressive piece of machinery.
The P1 was powered by a fire-breathing (literally) 3.8-litre, twin-turbo hybridised V8 engine that churned out a formidable 674 kW (916 PS)and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) of torque. Kerb weight was claimed to be less than 1.5 tonnes.
That translated to some astonishing performance numbers. Forget 0-100 km/h (62 mph)—which took just 2.8 seconds—the P1 could accelerate from 0-200km/h (124 mph) in 6.8 seconds. That’s quicker than Mercedes-AMG’s latest and greatest Formula 1-powered ‘ONE’ hypercar. The McLaren was simply ahead of the curve.
Want a P1 Spider? You’ll have to be quick: they’re only making five.
