by David Finlay (12 Jan 06)

In the space of nine months, Prodrive has turned an idea suggested by its Chairman and Chief Executive David Richards into a fully-working prototype sports car. The Prodrive P2 is a powerful and dramatically styled two-seater which the company does not intend to put into production, though it would be prepared to discuss such a project with a third party.

Part of the thinking behind the P2 was to demonstrate Prodrive's wide range of abilities. These are indeed considerable. Although more than half of the company's turnover is now based on work within the mainstream automotive market, it is far better known for its motorsport history. In 2006, its motorsport programmes include running the Subaru World Rally Championship team, the Ford Performance Racing team which runs in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship and Aston Martin's sports car racing operation.

Prodrive has also gone rallying on behalf of BMW, MG and Porsche. It has competed in Touring Cars with Alfa Romeo, BMW again, Ford, Honda and Volvo. A Prodrive-run Ferrari won its class at the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hour race. And from 2002 to 2004, Prodrive ran the BAR Honda F1 team from its base in Brackley.

Quite a record. But if you had to associate Prodrive with just one company, it would probably be Subaru. The relationship goes back to 1990, and it's fair to say that it completely changed the public image of Subaru, from a producer of quirky estate cars with surprising off-road ability to the ultimate must-have brand for boy racers across the world.

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