Julien’s Auctions is selling a lesser-known mid-engine supercar tailored to the body dimensions of the 1980s-era basketball star Wilt Chamberlain. Known as the Searcher 1, it is currently being evaluated between $300,000 and 500,000.
Chamberlain, the holder of numerous NBA records of the era, stood 7 feet 1 inch tall, or 218 centimeters. While his stature undoubtedly helped him a lot at his game, it was a no small obstacle in his passion towards exotic cars. Tired of squeezing his frame inside the cramped coupes of the ‘80s, he commissioned one built from scratch.
Lyncar Engineering, the company that rose to fame designing Le Mans and Formula 1 prototype racers around that period, came up with a unique racecar-based chassis for the project. It had to be widened considerably for Chamberlain to be able to sit in the driver’s seat comfortably. Once the stainless-steel and aluminum frame was ready, it was joined with a double-wishbone suspension system featuring Koni shock absorbers.
The bodywork was penned by European automotive designer Peter Bohanna and considered exceptionally low-drag at the time. In order to achieve the unique body shape of the Searcher 1, Bohanna first tested multiple panel designs for wind resistance using a wooden scale model, then fabricated the most successful shapes out of aluminum-reinforced glass fiber.
In turn, a workshop in the United States produced a custom 6.0-liter GM V8 for the car, equipping it with aluminum headers and a unique supercharger. In its prime days, the mill was good for 467 PS (461 hp / 343 kW), surpassing such flagships of the ‘80s as the Ferrari Testarossa and the Lamborghini Countach. Mated to a modified BMW M1 transmission, the engine took the car to a top speed of 320 km/h (199 mph), making it one of the fastest vehicles in existence. It helped that the curb weight was as low as 1,360 kilos (3,000 pounds).
Despite the sheer effort and investment that went into this truly unique build, Chamberlain ended up barely driving his supercar. Following his demise at an age of 63 in the year 1999, the exotic was put on display at the Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame. It had spent a couple of decades just sitting there, and is now up for grabs with around 160 km (100 miles) on the odometer.
