After several years of intensive development and thousands of miles of testing on road and track, the decision has been made to start low volume production of the NICHOLS N1A.
The brainchild of former McLaren Chief Designer Steve Nichols who led the technical team responsible for the McLaren MP4/4, the most successful F1 car of all time, the NICHOLS N1A is a celebration of his close ties with the Woking company, being a modern interpretation of the very first McLaren, the M1A.
“We didn’t set out with the intention of going into production,” says Nichols. “It was an idea that John Minett, Nichols Cars’ CEO, and I had been talking about for a while. In the end we thought we might as well build one and see how it turned out. Once people saw it on the road, the response was incredible. It’s a bit like the original M1A that started the whole McLaren story. Bruce McLaren built it as a one-off for his own personal use. Then people starting asking him if he could produce a few more!”
Although obviously inspired by the M1A, the NICHOLS is a very different, thoroughly modern, proposition.
Visually it is much more aggressive, with a ground hugging nose, wide, powerful flanks and aerodynamics honed in the wind tunnel to produce positive, balanced, downforce front and rear. The result is a fitting tribute to the M1A, but at the same time a shape which is thoroughly contemporary.
As is the technology under the skin. The NICHOLS features a state-of-the-art aluminium and carbon fibre chassis with wishbone suspension all round, guaranteeing fabulous handling.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the project,” says Nichols, “has been the opportunity to work with some incredible world leading experts on structures and suspension, based here in the UK, as well as some fantastic colleagues from my McLaren days.”
An obvious feature the N1A shares with the original is a large capacity American V8. With a choice of power outputs ranging from 450 to 650 bhp and a target weight including fluids of under 900 kilos, performance is guaranteed to be spectacular.
Whilst it’s probably best to use a racetrack to unleash its full potential, the NICHOLS N1A has been designed with road use very much in mind, weather permitting!
The car will make its debut in the second quarter of 2022.
NICHOLS CARS LIMITED
Nichols Cars Limited was formed by CEO John Minett and Technical Director Steve Nichols for the build of the Nichols N1A. Further information may be found at: https://nichols-cars.com.
STEVE NICHOLS
Steve’s initial experience was gained at Hercules Aerospace where he was part of a team designing rocket motors for the Trident missile. During this time he became used to working with carbon fibre at the cutting edge of the technology.
He was always looking for a way to get into motorsport. His break came when he was offered a job at Gabriel shock absorbers, overseeing the racing division. His designs became the choice of all the leading IndyCar teams. One of the designers he met was John Barnard who was working for the Vel’s Parnelli and subsequently Chapparal teams. When Barnard said that he was going back to the UK to work on a F1 design, Steve kept in touch. In a subsequent phone call Barnard told Steve that he was looking to use a new material for the chassis but was having trouble getting anyone to make it. Nichols guessed that it was carbon fibre and introduced John Barnard and Ron Dennis to his former employer, Hercules who began a long-term partnership with McLaren as a result.
Steve was invited to join the design team at McLaren working on what became the MP4/1
When Barnard left to go to Ferrari, Nichols became Chief Designer, leading the technical team on the MP4/3 and the MP4/4, the most successful F1 car of all time.
Nichols moved on to Ferrari, Sauber and Jordan before returning to McLaren as a roving trouble-shooter.
During this spell Steve came up with the infamous McLaren “brake-steer” system which introduced the concept of torque vectoring which has since been adopted by almost every high-performance road car on the planet.
For further information please contact:
John Minett, CEO, Nichols Cars
Tel: 07906 350243
Email: [email protected]