Q&A: David Richards, Prodrive chairman
Why build a road-going Hunter T1+?
“Many people in remote areas, especially the Middle East, do a lot of desert driving for recreation. There’s a big off-road culture. It seemed logical to propose such a car – and then the crown prince [of Bahrain] became interested in being our first owner…”
How different is the road-going car from Sébastien Loeb’s Dakar racer?
“Not very different, really. It’s a bit more comfortable and quieter in the cockpit, and it rides a bit lower. There can be boot space if the owner wants. But it has the same chassis and suspension and very similar tyres. We intend it to be very, very capable in places where there are no roads.”
Why have you chosen that sand colour for the first car?
“That’s the crown prince’s choice and he’s the first customer. He thinks the car should suit its environment, and now we’ve all seen it, we approve. We probably wouldn’t have chosen that, but I’d say it works.”
Why is the road car more powerful than your competition machinery?
“Mainly because it can be. The Dakar regulations place limits on turbo boost, and the road car doesn’t have to have those. Because we build our engines from scratch in Banbury, we know how durable the V6 is, so we’ve just given it a bit more freedom.”