YouTuber Tavarish and Frank Stephenson Team Up To Build Wild McLaren P1
When the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar holy trinity descended on the earth, nobody could have foreseen that one day, a heathen with a YouTube channel would be rewriting the theology of one of them with a completely new design and much more power. But that's what the YouTuber known as Tavarish is now setting out to do with one of 375 P1 hypercars ever made, and he's doing it with the help of the man who was in charge of McLaren design back then: Frank Stephenson. Together, they want to create a one-off they're calling the P1 Evo, but it'll be fundamentally different from the hybrid hypercar on which it's based, particularly when it comes to total output. On the surface, Tavarish might seem like a villainous devil, but he's saving a damned soul that was halfway to hell already.
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The original P1 powertrain comprised the M838TQ 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 (the descendant of which swelled to 4.0 liters and became the M840T) and a single electric motor to produce a combined 903 horsepower. But with such an extreme exterior makeover for the P1 Evo, Tavarish intends to do some surgery beneath the skin, too, ensuring the bite matches the bark. He's fitting the bigger and more easily attainable M840T, likely salvaging it from a wrecked 720S or 750S. The turbochargers will retain their original frames, but larger wheels will help develop much more power, despite the loss of the electric motor. Tavarish is aiming for 1,400 hp, an increase of more than 50% over the original hypercar being channeled here. The idea is to make it faster than the 217-mph P1 or even the super slippery Speedtail, which has achieved 250 mph, and local resident Tavarish will prove it at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The design of the project has not yet been finalized, and it won't be the last such project by Stephenson, who says more custom car and motorcycle projects will be revealed later this year. frankstephenson Design (that's how it's stylized) has come up with several takes on a reimagined and much more hardcore P1, several of which have wings that appear as if they may hinder straight-line speed, but we don't know which will be settled upon. If all goes according to plan, the finished product will be revealed in November to the sound of angels singing in the church of tuners, the SEMA Show, before the record attempt sometime in 2026. However, things have not gone smoothly so far, and Tavarish has almost been brought to his knees many times.Freddy "Tavarish" Hernandez has been working on this P1 for years now, and understandably hasn't made much progress. He bought it on the cheap (if a price of a little over half a million dollars can be considered a bargain) after McLaren P1 #348 was caught in the corrosive waters carried inland by Hurricane Ian in early 2022. This is why the hybrid powertrain has finally been given up on, along with any hopes of trying to restore this flooded hypercar to its former value (between $1.35 million and $2 million). On the one hand, pious purists will preach that such a rare technological marvel being repurposed into something that will keep company with Liberty Walk Lambos is blasphemous, but on the other, Tavarish is keeping this P1 alive when others would have pulled the plug long ago, and with the original designer's blessing, no less. Moreover, he's setting real performance goals that will exceed (some of) those of the original car, so he's doing it as authentically as anyone could expect. Mad Mike certainly wasn't quite so faithful to the brand with his P1 drift demon, and McLaren didn't denounce his unholy hypercar, did it?
YouTuber Tavarish and Frank Stephenson Team Up To Build Wild McLaren P1 first appeared on Autoblog on Jun 20, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
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Ultimate off-road toy? Defender Octa vs Nomad and Mach-E Rally
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We've got rear-engined rear-wheel drive, all-electric four-wheel drive and V8-engined, proper mechanical four-wheel drive on offer, to suit whatever your requirement. These cars are about as different from each other as anything you're likely to see sharing space in an Autocar comparison test. But all should be great fun on what is ostensibly a gravel rally stage that's ours for the day. At just 715kg, the Ariel Nomad 2 is the kind of flyweight thrill-seeker most would stick on a trailer to transport and use. One towed by something like the 2510kg Land Rover Defender Octa, quite possibly. Could the tow car actually be as much fun as what's towed? Could it get close? Let's see. At 2343kg, meanwhile, the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally isn't far behind the range-topping Defender on kerb weight, although it comfortably beats it for torque-to-weight ratio and claimed on-asphalt 0-62mph sprinting – not least because it's electric. On wheel travel, any-surface traction and towing capacity? 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The Octa takes to on-road motorway and A-road miles with very little compromise whatsoever to its rolling refinement associated with its beefed-up running gear – and big-hitting overtaking pace when you need it. But it's also because this car's sheer rough-stuff capability is exceptional. We've had a dry winter, so it happens that the ford you have to cross to gain access to The Mile Loop is at a low level on the day of our test, and all three cars can cross it easily. But if it had been 18in deeper? The Defender – with its 1000mm wading depth – would simply have had the fun all to itself, and the Nomad might have ended up somewhere a lot farther downstream in the Wye Valley. Getting to where you want to be in order to enjoy yourself in fairly remote places like this, and carrying with you what you will need when you get there, is a significant part of the equation when assessing how much fun these cars can provide in the broadest of senses. And on all of that stuff, the Defender has a mighty head start when you stop to think about it. Are usability and capability – or, rather, the want of them – significant hurdles for the electric Ford? In some ways, I'd say so – but not all. The Mach-E GT wasn't the most efficient EV you could spend £70,000 on before Ford jacked up the ride height by 20mm and fitted those all-season tyres to it. As the Rally, it will do a little over 210 miles as a touring electric range, which meant it arrived at our Welsh rallying idyll with about 75% battery capacity showing, with the nearest rapid charger a good 25 miles away. Focuses the mind, that. I won't be ruining the verdict, however, to tell you that the Mach-E survives a fairly long day's off-road use, with a couple of leadfoots taking plenty of entertainment from it, and leaves at the end with more than enough range remaining to guarantee its onward progression. As a very basic test of the primary usability of an EV made with this sort of driving in mind, I reckon that's valid: and the Mach-E Rally passes it. But, at all points, we keep a wary eye on that range meter, in a way we simply don't need to with the fossil-fuelled alternatives, and perhaps have just a little less outright fun as a result. On a more normal day, of course, the Mach-E Rally is still a car you could get all manner of profitable, zero-emissions use out of. It's practical but not huge; fast, alternative and interesting to drive but not a six-figure buying prospect. Suited to the school run, supermarket shop, office commute and football practice. It has five doors, five usable seats and Ford-typical real-world appeal baked right in. Need we point out that the Nomad, er, doesn't? I doubt it, because it's the kind of car you take giant helpings of enjoyment from on the more limited occasions you have to drive it, not the other way around. The one with the green frame that Ariel brought to Sweet Lamb for us has Perspex side protection to stop the breeze billowing up your trouser legs so much, as well as a canvas roof as rain protection. You expect to finish driving it by removing so much dust from your various facial orifices, but it actually shelters you from all that fairly well. Hit a water splash in it at pace, though, and… you get wet. But generally, it doesn't throw enough dirt into the cockpit to make you wish you had packed ski goggles or to make it a mission to clean up afterwards. The Nomad may be the kind of car you would only really ever seek to have fun in, but what fun it is. You can have one with a rally-style hydraulic handbrake fitted if you want (as our test car has), in addition to the optional winch, roof-mounted headlights and gorgeous Öhlins TTX suspension – and, trust me, you should. Crunch time Onto the gravel we go, then. In descending order, 534lb ft of torque per tonne in the Ariel plays 271lb ft in the Ford and only 235lb ft in the Octa. Even there, you can start to see the enormous difference that the Nomad's lightness makes. But the proper all-terrain tyres of the Nomad and Octa will have an impact, too, versus the more road-intended rubber of the Mach-E, while peak torque at revs isn't the same thing as accessible torque right under your big toe, right at the wheel where you need it most. Is your idea of a fun gravel driving experience something pointy, drifty and responsive, which rotates freely as you turn it in and 'gas it up'? Whose cornering attitude can be adjusted with power as quickly and easily as a flick of your ankle and roll of your wrists? S omething that powers away from 50mph corners with a real surge of urgency and a carefree wiggle of its hips? Well, you might be surprised just how well the Mach-E Rally fits the bill. 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So driving the Ford on gravel is a kind of quick-quick-slow progression; you will have a blast, provided you don't go too fast. In the tighter bends, there's nothing the Defender's posh active suspension can really do, by comparison, about the more languid chassis responses of a bigger, taller, heavier car, but the Mach-E feels much lower, keener and more willing to be teased into a positive cornering attitude than the Land Rover, which only really wants to tuck its nose in under trail-braking (although it will certainly do it). Both cars are fun. The Defender is leagues tougher and more capable and would come into its own on a quicker, wider gravel track, I'd wager. But here and now and in a corner of the Powys countryside that seems to suit it peculiarly well, the Ford is actually the more addictive driver's car. And then you get into the Nomad and it's like you're in another place altogether and engaged in an interactive physical act of a different order of magnitude. The Octa ultimately goes perhaps 10-15% further than a regular Defender for entertainment factor but still trades squarely on its assured feel. It can only make so much room to really entertain you without the risk of bursting that safe, silver-lined bubble. The Mach-E goes further still, but its ultimate lack of grip, ground clearance and damping authority would make you fear for it if tougher, quicker surfaces and tests presented. But the Nomad simply yums it all up, lets you feel every little deflection and work for every correction, and puts itself on a different plane of motoring existence in the process. It is enormous, monumental fun. It's a test of nerve to begin with, though, and a huge change of tone. Because suddenly every channel, bump, ridge, rock and camber gets right through to your fingertips and backside. The Defender was filtering them out, mostly, although you didn't know it; the Ford only hinting at them. But the Nomad broadcasts them right into your forearms and shoulders. Lots of physical effort is involved in getting on its level and armfuls of corrective lock require plenty of fast dexterity. But it gives back what you put in and more, with its incredible, oh-so-faithful handling. On 16in wheels and chunkily sidewalled Yokohama all-terrain tyres, it finds plenty of grip and traction on the gravel but still demands a much closer watching brief before you can let all 382lb ft loose through the rear wheels without a bodily reaction. The steering communicates tirelessly, so you know without doubt when you're on a good line and, very clearly, when you're not. Get wide, get lazy, turn in in the wrong gear or fluff your lines with the pedals and you will have plenty to sort out. But drive well and you can take pretty much whatever line and angle through a third-gear, 50mph corner you want to and feel every move the chassis makes. 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