McLaren P1 XP2R prototype launches the Sub7 Collection

Much has been written about the Nurburgring-Nordschleife over the years since it was first raced. The fabled 20.83-km circuit snakes its way through Germany’s Eifel Forest, and it has challenged amateurs and professionals alike, who have tried to tame it, pushing for that extra tenth of a second.

Average 150 km/h for a sub-7 lap
There is an exclusive club waiting for a select few who achieve ‘sub-7 status’, meaning one lap completed in less than 7 minutes. The unique challenge of the Nordschleife, or ‘North Loop’, means that the car must travel at an average speed greater than 150 km/h. It is possible to hit 150 km/h but to average that speed while having to decelerate for the tighter and twisty corners means the driver has to be very good – and the car too.

The P1 – one of the first club members
The first of the so-called ‘holy trinity’, the McLaren P1, holds several impressive accolades to its name. Designed to be ‘the fastest car on road and track’, Mr. McLaren’ Ron Dennis has announced, at its launch in 2013, that entry into the sub-7 minute club was a prerequisite to signing off the performance of the car.

Bold words, especially against some very stiff competition at the time from the factories in Maranello and Stuttgart. However, within 10 months, McLaren confirmed that its attempt at membership had been successful. The car that achieved the milestone was one of the firm’s prototypes, P1-’XP2R’, and the achievement was simply a part of the performance benchmarking.

No more specifics were confirmed, other than to acknowledge that the task – along with all the other performance objectives in the development programme – had been completed. Now, a decade on from that announcement, the XP2R has come out from under the covers of a private collection, entrusted to the team at Sub7 Collection.

The Sub7 Collection
The Sub7 Collection manages and sources some of the world’s most exclusive cars on behalf of clients. Through dedicated management of private vehicle collections, to the sourcing and step-by-step support for sales or purchases of high value, premium super and hypercars, Sub7 Collection will work with clients looking to acquire individual vehicles.

The P1, as one of the ‘founders’ of the exclusive sub-7-minute members club, is the perfect poster car for the launch of Sub7 Collection. Widely considered as the highlight of McLaren Automotive’s modern-day projects, the model was limited to just 375 production models, supported by a small number of testing and validation prototypes.

Following the conclusion of this production run, selected clients were offered the opportunity to acquire a very small number of special cars which had played a major role in the development process.

The XP2R story
XP2R  (or eXperimental Prototype 2 as it started off) was one of the first development mules in the groundbreaking project. Initially running in the racetrack camouflage prior to the public appearance, the XP2R had undergone extensive testing. It received its fully painted bodywork in June 2013, as the programme became more public, appearing once again at the Nurburgring as it worked through the final development programme stages, aiming towards the timed attempt.

The, XP2R presents one of the most unique and talked about histories of a specific roadcar in recent years. Fully recommissioned at the end of its ‘working life’ by McLaren Automotive, it is exactly as it completed its demanding development programme – finished in Supernova Silver metallic bodywork, with stealth wheels – and still wears its ‘prototype vehicle’ markings.

It is now held with an extensive set of spares, including a second set of carbonfibre bodywork. With these spare parts and bodywork, a complete silhouette vehicle has been created, which sits alongside the car in the owner’s private collection. This second model is virtually identical to the original prototype, although showing the different coloured brake calipers which were worn during the development programme.

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