The McLaren P1 was part of a trio of hypercars that redefined on-road performance when they came along half a decade ago. Together with Ferrari's LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder, it signalled the beginning of a new and rather exciting chapter in street legal speed. 0-62 took just 2.8 seconds and flat out it would hit 217mph thanks to 916hp and 723lb ft of torque from its combination of electric motor and twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8.
Of course, any car designed around a set of licence plates can never truly fulfill its performance potential, a fact that was even more of a pity where the P1 was concerned. Luckily, however, McLaren agreed, and three years after the road car's Paris reveal, the track-only GTR was announced.
Costing a whopping £2,000,000 when new - or more than double the 'standard' car - the P1 GTR also produced 84 more horsepower, hit 62mph nearly half a second quicker, weighed 50 fewer kilograms and was limited to a production run of just 40. Inside, the steering wheel was based on the one Lewis Hamilton used to control his MP4-23 F1 car, and featured buttons for familiar, racy acronyms like DRS and IPAS as well as a pit lane speed limiter and full beam flash (because racecar).
In addition to the car, every buyer received access to a driver training programme designed to prepare them for the challenge of piloting one of the fastest customer cars ever produced, as well as a dedicated race team replete with head engineer and driver coach. A good thing too, you'd imagine, seeing as they'd also bought in to a six-race P1 GTR series which encompassed some of the world's greatest F1 circuits.
Such is the pace of automotive oneupmanship these days that despite representing the pinnacle of automotive attainment only very recently, the P1 GTR has already been usurped by another McLaren, the Senna GTR. All 75 examples of that car sold out within 12 hours of its Geneva launch, demonstrating that however niche a product like this might seem, the demand for them shows no sign of abating.
And as for this week's Showpiece? Its 145 advertised miles and pristine condition suggest it never made it to any of those owners' events, which is certainly a shame. It's also advertised with the possibility of conversion for road registration which, while better than sitting indoors, would also be something of a pity. If you have the money for that then we suggest you try opening it up down the Mulsanne Straight first; we guarantee you'll enjoy it more than idling on Brompton Road.
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