[Video] McLaren P1 Spider by Lanzante debuts at the 2023 Festival of Speed | GRR
Lanzante always has a delicious treat to bring to the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard and 2023 is no exception. This year, it has expanded the range of flavours in which one can have a McLaren P1 yet again, by popping the top to create the McLaren P1 Spider. Previously very much hard top-only, this P1 Spider is a one-off for now, being a commission by a very determined customer of Lanzante’s. There are due to be five made in total, which is a number Lanzante and said customer came to as a balance of rarity but also, sharing out the cost of development.
Indeed, you can’t just go around chopping roofs off cars willy-nilly. As it happens, the P1 was sort of asking for it. Using the same monocell carbon chassis as the 12C and 650S, there is in-built suitability to open-top engineering exploited in those series models, but not the P1. McLaren’s official line on a potential P1 Spider at the time was, that there was no potential – something to the tune of ‘we could, but we don’t want to’. As it stands now, it’s the only one of the so-called ‘holy trinity’ that didn’t pop its top, either from new in the case of the 918 Spyder, or latterly with the Aperta in the case of the LaFerrari.
So what goes into it? Well, yes you need to do some chopping, but on top of double-checking the chassis rigidity, Lanzante had to re-design the rear deck, engineer some buttresses and come up with a roof system. In the end, it went with a fabric top with two rails, for ease of storage. Quite how easy it is to put up and down is unknown. Otherwise, the P1 Spider is the P1 as we know and love it – twin-turbo V8 hybrid power going to the rear wheels, shuffling a sculptural supercar shape at a pace that’s still awe-inspiring today. Of course, Lanzante will modify the powertrain too, if you so choose, with a 4.0-litre Cosworth-fettled version of the engine and a more powerful battery both available.
So what do you think of the P1 Spider? We love that Lanzante keeps expanding the variety of flavours you can have the P1 in, from the road-converted GTR, to the LM, to the long-tailed GT, to the HDK kit for standard cars and now this Spider. What a stunning thing.
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Photography by Jochen Van Cauwenberge.