Prodrive Hunter: 600bhp rally weapon to make London debut

Prodrive engineer Mark Paterson, who is in charge of the road car programme, said that although most of the car’s headline specifications mirror those of the rally cars, there are many different details.

The interior has sound deadening wherever possible, the competition seats are replaced by slightly more comfortable designs, the new fascia is configured so the car can be driven by people of varying skills and the massive, 480-litre rear fuel tank can be shrunk to give extra boot space, because “prospective owners are the kind of people who spend weekends driving in the desert”, said Paterson. “They may need a little luggage.”

The T1’s engine is the same dry-sumped 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged Ford V6 used in the competition cars, rebuilt and modified at Prodrive with bespoke engine control systems. 

The T1 is a nominally front-engined design, although the position is so close to centralised that its cover protrudes half a metre into the cockpit. The road car output is quoted at more than 600bhp – around 200bhp more than FIA regulations allow for the pure rally cars – and torque at 516lb ft. Both engines redline at 6500rpm but the rally car’s shift lights are set at 5500rpm because torque declines above that. The gearbox is a six-speed paddle shifter and the car has permanent four-wheel drive.

The company predicts a 0-62mph time of less than four seconds and a top speed of nearly 186mph. 

Richards said Prodrive already has “three or four” buyers interested in cars and expects more to get in touch when the car makes its debut. Prodrive will deal directly with customers rather than appointing dealers. “The people who want one of these won’t be like ordinary car buyers,” said Richards. “They’ll know where to find us.”

Q&A: David Richards, Prodrive chairman

Why build a road-going Hunter T1+?

“Many people in remote areas, especially the Middle East, do a lot of desert driving for recreation. There’s a big off-road culture. It seemed logical to propose such a car – and then the crown prince [of Bahrain] became interested in being our first owner...”

How different is the road-going car from Sébastien Loeb’s Dakar racer?

“Not very different, really. It’s a bit more comfortable and quieter in the cockpit, and it rides a bit lower. There can be boot space if the owner wants. But it has the same chassis and suspension and very similar tyres. We intend it to be very, very capable in places where there are no roads.”

Why have you chosen that sand colour for the first car?

"That’s the crown prince’s choice and he’s the first customer. He thinks the car should suit its environment, and now we’ve all seen it, we approve. We probably wouldn’t have chosen that, but I’d say it works.”

Why is the road car more powerful than your competition machinery?

“Mainly because it can be. The Dakar regulations place limits on turbo boost, and the road car doesn’t have to have those. Because we build our engines from scratch in Banbury, we know how durable the V6 is, so we’ve just given it a bit more freedom.”

Do you expect to change the T1 gearing for the road?

“It’s possible we might like to make them a shade more relaxed when cruising, but we’re still deciding. We’ll learn a lot from the early cars.”

Do you expect to sell road cars in the UK?

“We’re not sure yet. But you wouldn’t bet against a BRX appearing in London some time, even if it’s imported by an owner who lives somewhere else.”

Previous Prodrive road cars

2000 Subaru Impreza P1: With experience running Subaru’s rally cars, Prodrive was charged with engineering the original Impreza WRX STi for sale in Europe. A bespoke suspension tune, anti-lock brakes and wheels designed by Peter Stevens were the main modifications.