15 July 2022
It doesn’t seem possible that it was as far back as late 2012 when the McLaren P1 debuted at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Sales of the P1 began in the United Kingdom in October 2013, and by November 2013, all 375 units had been sold.
The McLaren P1 is one of the Holy Trinity (Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and the McLarenP1).
And now, 2022, Goodwood Festival of Speed, lo and behold, a new P1, this time a Spider.
To explain, McLaren isn’t responsible for the iteration; it is from the British engineering firm Lazante, a specialist service centre for both road and race McLarens. As to the design, Lazante has worked closely with Paul Howse, who is the Lead Designer on several critical products for McLaren, including the exterior of P1, P1 GTR, 720S exterior and the 570S interior, and more recently, the Senior Design Manager for the exterior of the Artura.
As to the raison d’être for the P1 Spider, a P1 owner approached Lazante and said he ‘wanted his hybrid McLaren hypercar to be even more engaging.’
Therefore, the P1 Spider is a conversion based on an existing car. Only five Spiders are to be created. Complete with carbon air intakes, which is necessary since the original hypercar had a roof scoop. Obviously, the glass roof panels are gone, but Lazante has engineered a removable roof section.
Lazante has also ‘attended’ to the interior; since the open-top configuration means the seats may be exposed to the elements, they have used a material known as SuperFabric.
As yet, performance figures haven’t been released, and there is a possibility the new design may impact, but for reference, the P1 hit 60mph in 2.8seconds and had a top speed of 217mph.
Lazante is optimistic they will deliver the first Spider before the end of 2022.
