ProdrĖve will gladly transport you to its very own all-terrain supercar if you’re sick of waiting for the Porsche 911 Superfast or the Lamborghini Huracan Superto. Introduce yourself to the Hunter, which is essentially a road-going version of the BRX Hunter T1+ Dakar Rally car. It largely keeps the appearance of the competition version, but it has more power—more than 50%—because it is not subject to class regulations.
In fact, a 3.5-liter V6 engine supplied by Ford and tuned by Prodrive powers the Hunter’s rear end, producing an astounding 600 horsepower and 700 Newton-meters (516 pound-feet) of torque. The capable twin-turbocharger allows the all-terrain vehicle to reach speeds of up to 62 mph (100 km/h) in less than four seconds. When it flies, it will only reach 186 mph (300 km/h).
Maximum speed is surprisingly high for a car fitted with massive 35-inch off-road tires meant more for rough terrain than smooth ones. But the tread might only be feasible with rubber intended for street use.
With 400 millimeters (15.7 inches) of travel, the ProdrĖve Hunter is a true adventure vehicle thanks to a double-wishbone suspension system up front and rear. Remarkably, that is presently 50 mm (roughly two inches) greater than the DAKAR-spec machine.
The Hunter has been equipped by Prodrive with a six-speed, paddle-shift gearbox, which routes all power to a four-wheel-drive system. The outdoor breast features a front, center, and rear diverter, along with adjustable dampers and a large fuel tank that can accommodate an incredible 480 liters (127 galons). As part of the race-spec brake system, it rides on 8.5J x 172 forged alloy wheels with six-piston valves coupled with vented discs.
As you may have already surmised, the Producer Hunter isn’t exactly inexpensive. At current exchange rates, it costs £1.25 million ($1.63 million), and that’s before taxes. There will be 25 examples of production in Banbury, UK, the first of which has already been given to Prince Sultan of Bahrain, Hamad Al Khalifa. Quelle surprise…
It is likely that the Lamborghini Huracan Strato and Porsche 911 Safari / Dakar will both be significantly less expensive, but it remains to be seen if they can match Hunter’s all-terrain capabilities. Chairman of the Product Development Board David Richards called it “the Ferrari of the desert” in an interview with AutoCAR.
Fun fact: The famous “Back to the Future” line, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” is included in the car’s brochure. Yes, in fact!
