As the road-legal version of the Dakar Rally car BRX Hunter T1+ was revealed, Prodrive chairman David Richards said the Hunter is “the Ferrari of the desert.” His claim doesn’t come from baseless nonsense as the Hunter’s 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 is capable of producing 600 bhp.

And yes, the car is designed to withstand any sort of terrain including, but not limited to, dessert. All thanks to the permanent four-wheel drive and bespoke engine control system.

Hunter was initially a one-off project for Bahrain’s Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, but the deal ended up at a bigger proposition. Now, Prodrive is planning to produce 25 more at their Banbury HQ over the next two years.

Performance and specifications
The company says that the Hunter will be able to do naught to sixty in under four seconds. And in terms of top speed, Prodrive claims it will be around 186 mph. Whereas the gearbox will come in the form of a six-speed paddle shifter.

The body comes from a design by former Jaguar boss Ian Callum. It is aerodynamic in shape and it comes with a high wing above the rear window to generate downforce. The all-terrain car is 4600mm long, 2300mm wide and 1850mm tall.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hunter uses the same tubular steel spaceframe chassis as BRX Hunter T1+ does, but it has much larger tires — 38in diameter tires on a 17in wheel. The car will also have room for a spare in a sidepod near the rear wheel.

In addition, Hunter will also come with ultra-long twin-shock coil suspension which Prodrive designed in all four wheels. And remembering the fact that assistance will not always be available in the desert, the air jacks built-in the Hunter has will come in handy for rapid tire changing.

Interior
The road-legal version is not very far off from its rally sibling. It is just built a bit more comfortable. Most of the modifications to make the car more comfortable for future owners lie in the interior. Hunter has a sound-proofing feature wherever possible and the seats are replaced by slightly more comfortable designs.

Its massive 480-liter rear fuel tank can also be shrunk for the purpose of having extra boot space. According to Prodrive engineer Mark Paterson, the purpose of that option is because “prospective owners are the kind of people who spend weekends driving in the desert".

"They may need a little luggage,” he added.

Hunter will be sold at $1.37 million (Rp19.7 billion) before local taxes. Richards said his company already has “three or four” buyers interested in the car and is expecting more as Hunter makes its debut.