The Grand Tour

Jeremy Clarkson’s MFB Bentley Continental Replacement: Does The Prodrive Hunter 600 Fit The Bill?

Prodrive will unveil the road-going version of their latest Dakar Rally Car- the  BRX Hunter T1+ at London’s Salon Privé on 21 April. The first road car was built for Bahrain’s Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, followed by 25 units that will be retailed at  £1.25 million each.

Calling it the “Ferrari of the desert”, Prodrive chairman David Richards has created the fastest cross-country production car in the world. this then begs the question: Could this be the ideal replacement for Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘MFB Bentley‘ that featured on The Grand Tour’s Madagascar special?

We do think so. After all, the Hunter has the right mix of all ingredients that could make this a much better car than the MFB. While both cars can’t be compared, this would be an excellent replacement. It could be used in town since it is road legal as well as in Clarkson’s Farm!

Speaking of ingredients, the Prodrive Hunter is equipped with Ford’s 3.5 litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine used in the competition cars. The engine is rebuilt and tuned at Prodrive with bespoke engine control systems.

The car is front-engined, though it is positioned more towards the center. Producing power upwards of 600bhp and 516lb ft of torque, the hunter can cross the 60mph marker in less than four seconds and can reach speeds of up to 186 mph. Mated to a six-speed paddle shifter gearbox, power is sent to all four wheels.

Despite being a mad dune basher, the Hunter is road-friendly and practical too! The competition seats are replaced by slightly comfortable ones, an easy-going friendly fascia, and a shrink-able 480 litre fuel tank to make way for more boot space makes this a very desirable car.

The car will be sold directly to the customer, rather than the brand appointing dealers to do so.
“The people who want one of these won’t be like ordinary car buyers,” said Richards.

Jeremy’s MFB Bentley was sent back to the company since it was a development mule. However, given the ‘rawness’ of the hunter and the fact that it belongs to the urban and jungle habitat, the makes for the next best choice.

We can already imagine Clarkson saying “Poweerrrrrrrrr…”

Related Articles

Back to top button