U.K.-based race car builder Prodrive’s next project is a supercar described by founder and CEO David Richards as a “Ferrari of the desert.” Based on its BRX-T1 Dakar race rig, the vehicle will be powered by a Prodrive-modified Ford 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6. As with the rally raider, its design will be led by Ian Callum.
According to Autocar, the road car will likely be called the Hunter, and will hew closely to the Dakar-bred BRX-T1. However, it will feature a full interior and all the fixings to make it comfortable street car. It will also have, reportedly, a 500-horsepower version of the V6, which is more power than the 400 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque that the race car puts out. Power will be delivered through what Richards calls a “sophisticated transmission,” but he didn’t specify whether it’d be based on the six-speed sequential gearbox of the race car.
The race machine was built atop a steel tube-frame chassis draped in carbon fiber body panels. It’s not clear whether the road car will use a similar construction, but Callum, who has designed many beloved cars for Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ford and the BRX race car, will lend his hand to the body. The BRX-T1 definitely exhibits shades of the F-Type visible in the rear.
Richards told Autocar that the road car will be wider than the race car to accommodate bigger tires. In fact, having too-small tires was among the reasons Prodrive’s BRX-T1 Dakar racers didn’t have a better turnout in January. Nine-time WRC champion Sebastian Loeb logged a DNF because he kept getting punctures and eventually just ran out of tires. The other car, driven by Nani Roma, finished fifth overall. The team believes it has gained valuable experience that will help them log a better result next year.
The Hunter will likely cost £1 million ($1.83 million), but will stand in a class of its own. Richards told Autocar, “Imagine a road car capable of going across the sand dunes at 100mph – and keep doing it for 300 miles because the fuel tank is so big. It’s going to be quite exciting.”
