The Prodrive Hunter is a super car for the dunes

Prodrive is a UK-based motorsport and advanced engineering company that designs, constructs and races cars for teams in various motorsport disciplines.

The brand’s most famous creation is perhaps the Subaru Impreza 555 Prodrive WRC piloted by Colin McRae.

The company has revealed a road-going version of the Hunter, a 447kW, four-wheel drive all-terrain adventure vehicle born out of the Bahrain Raid Xtreme competition car driven to second place by Sebastien Loeb in this year’s Dakar rally.

The Hunter is more capable than the race car driven by nine-time rally world champion Loeb, with a 50% increase in power from the 3.5l V6 twin turbo engine and more suspension travel to absorb the harshest of terrain.  

Former Jaguar Land Rover head of design Ian Callum, who styled the exterior of the original competition car, has returned to the project to create a new interior more in keeping with every day use than racing.

A digital display gives the driver all the important information they need, while the centre console houses the more traditional controls found in a road car. 

“There are numerous hypercars on the market, however they all need good roads or even race tracks to show their performance. We identified that in certain parts of the world, particularly the Middle East, there are vast expanses still to be explored that go way beyond the access provided by asphalt roads,” says Prodrive chair David Richards.

“Therefore, why not create a vehicle that gives the opportunity to explore these regions with performance way beyond that offered by any off-road vehicle before?” asked the former chair of Aston Martin and a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams.

The Hunter retains the Dakar competition car’s engine, drivetrain and suspension, but to improve driveability, the manual sequential gear box has been replaced by a six-speed paddle shift, providing smooth gear changes in just milliseconds.

As the hypercar does not have to comply with strict competition regulations power has been increased by more than 50%. The 3.5l twin turbo V6 with 447kW and 700Nm has been refined and retuned to deliver a smoother and easier drive feel.

Prodrive estimates that this would give it a 0-100km/h time in less than four seconds and a top speed of nearly 300km/h, however, the vehicle is fitted with bespoke 35” off-road tyres designed to optimise grip over rough terrain and sand rather than on tarmac. The Dakar Hunter T1+ has 37" wheels. 

“We took the deliberate decision to keep the Hunter hypercar as close to the original as possible. It’s about giving owners the opportunity to experience what it is like to drive Loeb’s Dakar car across the desert, but with all the comforts of a road car and the ability to drive it from your home, through a city, to any destination of your choice,” said Richards. 

The whole car is built about a high tensile steel space frame chassis, giving both a rigid platform to optimise the suspension geometry and performance and an FIA standard safety cage to protect the occupants.

The all-round double wishbone suspension with twin adjustable dampers on each corner has 400mm of travel — an increase from 350mm on the competition car, six pot racing brake calipers and vented discs all round.

The whole vehicle has been designed to minimise overall weight and optimise the weight distribution and centre of gravity. All the bodywork is made from lightweight carbon composite, which includes recycled materials produced by Prodrive Composites.  

Richards said: “The first development vehicle is now touring the Middle East where  customers are being offered the opportunity of driving the Hunter and confirming their personal specification for production vehicles to be delivered later this year.” It costs £1.25m (R24.5m).