The world doesn’t need another supercar. Honestly, the roads are already clogged with gaudy, winged lumps of horsepower chasing Nürburgring lap times like it’s a religion. But then, Steve Nichols walks into Monterey Car Week, casually drops the cover off something called the Nichols N1A ICON 88, and suddenly—every Aventador, Chiron, and LaFerrari looks like an overpriced cappuccino frother.
This is not just a car. This is a rolling shrine to Ayrton Senna and 1980s Formula 1 dominance. And it’s been built by the bloke who gave the world the McLaren MP4/4—the most ruthlessly efficient Formula 1 car in history, the machine that Senna and Prost used to bludgeon the entire grid in 1988.
Nichols’ pitch is gloriously simple: forget driver aids, forget touchscreen nonsense, forget 2.3 tonnes of batteries and regenerative braking. Instead, here’s a road-legal racing barchetta weighing just 900kg—that’s Lotus Elise territory—with a 7.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 howling behind your head. No turbos, no hybrids, no excuses. Just 650 horsepower, a six-speed manual, and the sort of mechanical purity modern supercars would sooner bury under an infotainment update.
And because Nichols isn’t interested in building a death trap, the N1A isn’t some crude kit car on wheels. The body is carbon fibre reinforced with graphene (yes, the wonder material your science teacher wouldn’t shut up about). Aerodynamics? Refined at the legendary MIRA wind tunnel. Suspension? Double wishbones straight from a race paddock. Brakes? Multi-piston motorsport calipers. Tyres? Michelin Cup 2s, as if anyone driving this needs encouragement to go faster.
The numbers make Ferrari engineers choke on their espressos: 900kg and 650bhp. That’s almost McLaren F1 levels of power-to-weight, only angrier and far less polite.
Inside, there’s no quilted leather Instagram nonsense. Instead, you’re practically lying down like Senna in the MP4/4. One seat. One gearstick. A set of analogue gauges that look like they’ve been lifted out of Mission Control. It’s less “luxury GT” and more “surgical tool for your adrenal glands.” Even ABS and power steering are optional. Optional!
Oh, and the first 15 cars? Each one is dedicated to one of the 15 victories McLaren racked up in 1988. If you don’t get goosebumps at that, you’re probably dead inside.
The N1A is the debut act for Nichols Cars, and it’s a bold, possibly unhinged way to introduce yourself to the world. But in an industry obsessed with touchscreens, AI driving modes, and exhausts that play fake soundtracks through speakers, Nichols has dared to build something that Senna himself might have daily-driven—if he’d ever needed a number plate.
The ICON 88 isn’t just another supercar. It’s a time machine to when racing was pure, cars were violent, and drivers were gods. And in today’s sanitized motoring world, that feels like a revolution.
Source: Nichols Cars