McLaren Is Looking To Repeat History
At the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren displayed “Project: Endurance,” the prototype for a customer track-day version of its planned FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) challenger, in a new livery that should familiar to fans of the company’s first road car—the legendary McLaren F1.
The silver-and-orange scheme is inspired by one used during testing and development of the F1 GTR, the racing version of the F1 that went on to win the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans in a less-vibrant liver of basic black, for sponsor Ueno Clinic. McLaren is aiming for a second win at the prestigious endurance race when it enters the top WEC Hypercar class in 2027.
The Ultimate Track Car
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Unlike the F1, the final version of Project: Endurance won’t be a road car adapted for racing. It will be purpose-built to the current LMDh hybrid ruleset that underpins both the WEC’s Hypercar class and the IMSA GTP class in North America. But McLaren hopes to bring some of its customers along for the ride.
Announced last month, Project: Endurance gives customers the opportunity to own cars that will be as close to those racing at Le Mans in 2027 as possible. McLaren has promised that they’ll have the same twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid powertrain as the cars driven by the professionals, and will be built by race-car constructor Dallara.
It’s an ambitious plan. The Aston Martin Valkyrie was designed by F1 genius Adrian Newey, and has since been turned into a full-on race car, but was always intended as a customer car. And the road-going Porsche 963 RSP is a one-off. McLaren will be the first to build and sell a series of WEC Hypercars for customers.
All-Access Pass
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In addition to the cars themselves, McLaren has said Project: Endurance participants will have full behind-the-scenes access to its WEC racing program, including time with key personnel and drivers. They’ll also be invited to Le Mans to watch McLaren attempt to win the race on its first attempt.
McLaren is also planning an arrive-and-drive customer track program, in which owners’ cars are shipped to a track so all they have to do is show up, visiting world racing circuits over the course of two years. That includes driver coaching and a dedicated pit crew for each customer—probably necessary for a bona fide Le Mans racer.
