Prodrive Says Its Hunter Is The World's First All-Terrain Hypercar

This is the Prodrive Hunter, which the UK outfit is calling the world’s first off-road hypercar. With four-wheel-drive, 600bhp and 516lb ft of torque, a top speed of around 186mph and a hypercar price tag of around $1.63 million (£1.25 million) it clearly has sand dune destroying credentials on paper. But while Prodrive has intended this as an off-roading monster, they also claim to have made it liveable for daily use.

Usually race cars end up being neutered for the road, but the Prodrive Hunter is 50% more powerful and has extra suspension travel for extreme off-roading. Based on the car used by nine-time world champion Sebastian Loeb for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in the Dakar rally, the Hunter isn’t subject to stringent racing regulations, so its 3.5 twin-turbo V6 engine has been uncorked.

To put all 600bhp to the ground on desert sands, dunes and rough mountainous terrain, the Hunter comes with heavy-duty 35-inch off-road tyres, double-wishbone suspension and adjustable dampers with 400mm of travel (up from the race car’s 350mm) to aggressively tackle the bumps on such varied terrain. Racing brake calipers and vented brake discs should also give the Hunter serious stopping power.

Like the Dakar version, the Hunter’s bodywork is made from carbon composite material that’s lightweight and derived from recycled materials, not that it makes the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 very eco-friendly. Prodrive is claiming the Hunter will give buyers the same experience of tearing through the desert as Sebastian Loeb 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.”

To make the seven-digit buggy a little more tolerable, Prodrive has thrown in some refinements compared to the spartan race car. In reality, it’s still no Lamborghini Urus, but the Hunter will come with a digital display and centre console that contains all the essentials. Prodrive has swapped out the race-car’s manual sequential box for a six-speed paddle shifter, for smoother gear changes in traffic.

We expect the buyer for a car like this won’t be too worried about comfort, when the main draw are those insane performance figures - they’ll have a garage full of more refined models.