Lanzante Unveils McLaren-Based Hypercar

The hypercar market is oversaturated. Every week, another company announces a new hypercar that costs more than $1M and has close to — or more than — 1,000 horsepower, and will be built in limited volumes. If you don’t want a Ferrari F80 or Aston Martin Valhalla, then you can buy a Koenigsegg, Pagani, or Bugatti. And if you don’t want one of those, then you could spend your money at Nilu, GMA, Czinger, Red Bull, or De Tomaso, to name but a few brands.This year alone, there have been two McLaren hypercars unveiled, made by two different companies. From McLaren, you have the underwhelming W1. And now, from Lanzante, the 750S-based 95-59. It’s a three-seater, 850 horsepower, $1.4M hypercar, limited to 59 units, and it’s one of the most impressive cars unveiled this year.Lanzante 95-59. Courtesy of LanzanteLanzante 95-59. Courtesy of LanzanteThough Lanzante is unknown to the layperson, they’re well respected in the realm of hypercars. Today, they’re best known for converting racing-only versions into road legal monsters — notably the McLaren P1 — but they also have a history fielding racing teams. In 1995, their 59-badged McLaren F1 won the 24 hours of LeMan; and it’s the 20th anniversary of that car that this new hypercar celebrates.However, rather than make this as extreme as possible, the 95-59 is intended to balance driving experience with real-world usability. So, though Lanzante re-engineered the carbon tub to fit a three-seat layout, they also put the fuse box under the driver seat to make it easier to maintain, and the front still has a capacious luggage compartment. It doesn’t have a curb-grazing splitter either, or a visibility-destroying rear wing, and it comes with a large gas tank.This will be purchased by customers who already have several aggressive, flashy hypercars, and Lanzante’s representatives have spoken about how they wanted to build the car that would be usable to drive and could be comfortably parked outside a hotel or restaurant. It promises to be a great driving experience — 850 horsepower plus Lanzante’s set-up expertise in a car weighing 2,800 pounds is an enticing combination — but it’s also intended to be usable day-to-day.Lanzante 95-59. Courtesy of LanzanteLanzante 95-59. Courtesy of LanzanteIt helps that this is a handsome car; the best looking car to use this McLaren engine since the P1 hypercar. Designed by former McLaren designer Paul Howse, it’s a lean, low, tight design, with a dropped nose, lowered shoulder line, few shut lines, and bodywork that looks shrunk down to the core mechanical components. The rear is the perfect example of this, where all the lines — from the cabin, diffuser, and LED-stripe tail-lights — come together on the jet-fighter-like central-mounted exhaust. It’s the rare design to use two-tone complex surfacing — with the raw carbon and floating panels on the doors and hood — but still look elegant.This is a production-intent styling concept, but the $1.4M price tag puts it at a significant discount compared to cars like the McLaren Speedtail or GMA T.50, which it spiritually sits between. The biggest issue is that it’s a relatively subtle hypercar, based on a similar-looking McLaren, and Lanzante probably isn’t doing enough to stand out in this market. The three-seater carbon tub is a technically impressive achievement, but Lanzante lacks the craftsmanship of a brand like Pagani, and it cannot provide the manual, hands-on driving experience that many customers are looking for. The engine is not naturally aspirated — it’s a twin-turbo V8, like all the McLaren cars — and it will presumably share the automatic transmission from the donor car. If I got a winning lottery ticket, why would I buy this instead of a 911 ST, available for a fraction of the price? Perhaps if it drives well enough, though, none of that will matter.Lanzante 95-59. Courtesy of Lanzante

Lanzante Unveils McLaren-Based Hypercar

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