Road version of Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans racer possible for buyer with “blank cheque”

A showroom-ready, road-legal version of the Peugeot 9X8 that raced at Le Mans this month is not off the table if a customer hands over enough money to develop one, according to the boss of the French car maker.

When the Le Mans Hypercar class the Peugeot 9X8 competes in was proposed, car makers were initially required to build 25 road-going of their race cars before they could compete.

This rule was later scrapped, and Peugeot shelved plans to build a road-legal version of its 9X8 racing machine – powered by a twin-turbo petrol V6 and hybrid system good for 500kW combined.

However the global boss of Peugeot says the company is still open to a showroom-ready 9X8 – as long as a buyer is willing to spend enough money to justify developing one.

"No. It’s not in the pipeline," Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson told the UK's Top Gear, but added: "If you’re going to come with a blank cheque we can always talk.

"It’s one of these things where if somebody were to come along then why not? But nobody has come along yet. Maybe I’ve opened the door now? We might have somebody come along you never know."

Exactly what dollar value Peugeot would write on the blank cheque is unclear, however with no current plan to produce a showroom version of the 9X8 – and no existing road-legal vehicle to share technology with – it would likely be a large number.

The illustration at the top of this story by Avarvarii imagines what a 9X8 race car with mirrors and licence plates could look like.

The highest-placed 9X8 race car – which lacks a tall rear wing seen on other cars in the Le Mans Hypercar class, and instead generates its downforce exclusively under the car – placed eighth in its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this month, behind two Ferraris, two Cadillacs, one Toyota and two Glickenhaus entries.

The best-known road-car casualty of the Le Mans Hypercar category is the GR Super Sport, the road-going version of Toyota's GR010 Hybrid race car that came second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year.

Toyota had already unveiled a prototype of the car – and displayed it at Le Mans – but a string of delays and a serious crash during testing in Japan reportedly saw the project cancelled in 2021.

Less well-heeled buyers interested in owning a road-legal Peugeot 9X8 can consider buying an upcoming Lego Technic scale model of the car – expected to be priced from a more attainable $300 – and leaving the race-car stickers in the box.