Lanzante F1-Powered Porsche TAG Turbo Is Something Special

You may know the name Lanzante from a few special projects. Some of the projects of the British engineering group include the P1 LM and P1 GT. What you may not know, however, is that Lanzante is working on another special car, and it involves putting a F1 engine into a Porsche 911. The car is specifically a 930 TAG Turbo and it will feature the engine from a 1980s Formula One car. Little is known about this project, but Pistonheads went to visit the British firm to find out some more.

The whole thing came about when Lanzante was inspired by the original Porsche 930 TAG Turbo. This was a prototype car created by McLaren to test the 1.5-litre V6 TAG-Porsche engine which powered their F1 cars back in the 80s.

Thanks to Lanzante’s good relationship with McLaren through the above-mentioned projects, they were able to get 11 of these F1 engines. Of course, the engines do need some re-working and modifications. In fact, Lanzante is working together with Cosworth to take on the challenge of making this racing engine more suitable for a road car.

The original engine was capable of pushing out over 1000 horses (746 kW) in its heydays of qualifying. However, in its 911 guise, it makes 503 horsepower (375 kW) and 420 Nm of torque. Despite the car being turbo-charged, it will still rev up to a glorious 9000 rpm, making it the highest revving turbo engine in a roadworthy car. In terms of weight, Lanzante expects the 930 TAG Turbo to tip the scales at 1,100 kilograms, making it about 235 kilograms lighter than the original 930.

Don’t think that these engines haven’t been used, however. Every single one of the 11 engines has been used in races with nine of them powering their drivers to the podium and one actually winning a race, thanks to Niki Lauda at the 1984 British GP.

Don’t expect this car to come cheap though. The car will set you back $1.45 million (approx. R21.3 million) should you want one of these 11 very special cars. Even if you do want one though, you’ll have to be good friends with the guys and girls at Lanzante, as they will be choosing each of the 11 customers themselves.   

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