Prodrive Hunter: Road-legal Dakar racer unveiled

Prodrive – the company behind many successful off-road racers – has unveiled the Hunter, a road-going version of its Dakar Rally car.

Developed to be a road-legal iteration of the Prodrive BRX Hunter T1+ driven by French driver Sébastien Loeb, the Hunter features performance and suspension improvements to better conquer harsh terrains.

Under the bonnet, the Hunter shares its Ford-sourced 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 (as found in the Ford GT and F-150 Raptor) with the Dakar racer.

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However, outputs are bumped up to the max, with more than 447kW of power and 700Nm of torque – the former an increase of 50 per cent.

Other shared elements include an identical tubular spaceframe structure, carbon fibre bodywork, six-pot racing brake calipers, ventilated discs all around, and 35-inch tyres with 17-inch rims.

Prodrive has replaced the sequential manual gearbox with a six-speed paddle-shift transmission to ensure smooth gear changes in milliseconds.

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The double-wishbone suspension with adjustable dampers has an additional 50 millimetres of travel at 400mm, for “a smoother ride and even greater ability to cross the roughest terrain at speeds unimaginable in any other vehicle.”

Inside, a digital display and more traditional controls are included in the cabin, while the company has also fitted sound deadening and allowed for greater luggage space through a reduction in the fuel cell.

“We took the deliberate decision to keep the Hunter Hypercar as close to the original as possible,” said Prodrive chairman, David Richards.

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“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.”

The first car (pictured in this story) was produced for Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, with further units retailing for £1.25 million (AU$2.2m) before local taxes.

A limited quantity of around 25 examples will be produced.