I’ll gladly talk about the McLaren F1 all day. McLaren F1 this, McLaren F1 that. But there is only One True King of the road-going McLaren F1s, and that is the McLaren F1 GT. It was longer. More luxurious. With more downforce and less drag. And now there will be a McLaren P1 from the same mold.
The Haters™ will jeer this McLaren P1 GT because “technically” it’s not an Official McLaren, but this is pretty much as official as you can get, since the P1 GT is being built by Lanzante. Yes, that Lanzante. Lanzante isn’t just some tuner or aftermarket shop, as its history and pedigree are nearly unparalleled. Whenever anyone talks about “McLaren” winning the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, in a way they’re really talking about Lanzante. Lanzante ran the race team behind the winning car, and while McLaren still takes care of all the road-going F1s, to this day Lanzante takes care of all the track-ready McLaren F1 GTRs. Lanzante is so good that its website is just a picture of a McLaren F1 GTR and a phone number. That’s a flex move if I’ve ever seen one.
Originally, if you wanted a McLaren P1 GTR for the road, you were shit outta luck. Until Lanzante came along, and created the McLaren P1 LM. Which was so fast that it immediately started smashing production car records.
But while a McLaren P1 LM is nice and all, there are six of those. Just imagine the horror of spending your hard-inherited millions on a McLaren P1 LM, knowing you have one of the fastest cars in the world, and then realizing five other peasants have one just like it.
Which is presumably why one “customer in the Middle East,” as TopGear.com describes him, wanted a P1 GT. We don’t have the full details yet, but it looks to be modeled after McLaren F1 chassis No. 056, also known as the McLaren F1 XP GT, also known as the original McLaren F1 GT prototype still held onto by McLaren, also known as One Of The Greatest And Best Cars Of All Time. Random Middle Eastern guy, I would do the exact same thing.
We’ve talked about this before, but getting up close and personal with chassis 056 is an experience. Here’s my esteemed colleague Raphael Orlove just describing the smell of it:
The interior smelled like a handmade leather shoe. It smelled like a multimillion dollar car. It smelled of speed, and luxury, and exclusivity.
Another teaser shot from Lanzante’s Instagram shows just how much the new P1 GT Longtail will hew to the original XP GT:
The nose is elongated, with beautiful slats cut into the front fenders. The outside is that deep, exquisite emerald green. The interior is cream, because it shouldn’t be anything else.
We’ll see it for real in ten days. Can’t wait.