Extremely rare McLaren P1 prototype goes up for sale

With just 375 examples of McLaren's space age hypercar built, it's rare that any ever come to market.

But Tom Hartley Jnr, car dealer of automotive exotica, has perhaps the unicorn of them all – one of just 14 prototype P1s that were built before the initial production run.

See also: Super-rare McLaren P1 caught on camera in flames

See also:McLaren launches its slowest model yet - a foot-powered P1

But Tom Hartley Jnr, car dealer of automotive exotica, has perhaps the unicorn of them all – one of just 14 prototype P1s that were built before the initial production run.

According to the seller, it is one of the few prototypes not to be crash tested, instead it was used to test gearbox and Bosch injection technology.

To add to the vehicle's desirability, it was also used as a GTR show car at both the Geneva and New York motor shows before being stripped back down and rebuilt in the same manner as the production cars.

Passers-by will be able to spot this extra special vehicle due to the XP05 badge on the rear and XP stitching in the headrests.

As a reminder of the P1's prowess, it sports a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain that delivers a gut-busting 903bhp. This is capable of propelling it from 0-60mph in an incredible 2.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 217mph.

According to Tom Hartley Jnr, the car has had one owner since new, and has covered just 300 miles.

Although there is no price listed, you can guarantee it will fetch well in excess of the £1.5million price tag that previous 'standard' P1s have commanded.

Story by Leon Poultney