The N1A supercar is a British-made, V8powered, ultra-light tribute to one of McLaren's best-known race cars.
It is the product of Hampshire-based Nichols Cars, the eponymous outfit of renowned motorsport engineer Steve Nichols, whose pioneering work with carbonfibre was instrumental in McLaren's domination of the 1988 Formula 1 world championship, with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna driving the Honda-powered MP4/4 to victory in 15 out of 16 races.
Nichols' inspiration was the McLaren M1A - a ferocious Group 7-spec prototype, and the first race car designed from the ground up by the British firm.
It was powered by an Oldsmobile-sourced small-block V8, weighed just 551kg and later evolved into the similarly designed M1B and M1C, which saw high-profile success in America's Can-Am series.
This story is from the July 26, 2023 edition of Autocar UK.
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This story is from the July 26, 2023 edition of Autocar UK.
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