British Racing Motors has restored its sole P351 Group C prototype to its original 1992 Le Mans specification, rebuilding its naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V12 and reinstating the closed cockpit removed during its subsequent conversion into the Nissan-powered P301. The BRM is now being prepared for a return to competition, with an initial test day planned for later in 2026.
The restored P351 made its first public appearance at CarFest before returning to Silverstone, where it had made its competition debut 34 years earlier. BRM announced the restoration on September 11, 2026, with the prototype appearing alongside P15 V16 Chassis IV on the Silverstone grid.
Built for the 1992 World Sportscar Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, the P351 combined a carbon-composite monocoque with BRM’s naturally aspirated V12. Only one car was completed. It raced at Silverstone and Le Mans, where BRM says it reached 216mph on the Mulsanne Straight during qualifying, matching the straight-line speed of the factory Peugeot and Toyota entries. BRM acquired the car in late 2024 and commissioned Ian Dawson of Dawson Racing to undertake the restoration. Dawson had worked with the chassis during its subsequent career with Pacific Racing, providing a direct connection between the original car’s later development and the work needed to return it to its 1992 configuration.
Following its Group C campaign, the P351 had been substantially modified during the 1990s to create the open-top BRM P301. Its cockpit roof was removed and the BRM V12 replaced by a twin-turbocharged Nissan V6. Returning the car to its earlier form therefore required the restoration of both its original powertrain and its closed-cockpit body configuration. Dawson Racing completely rebuilt the original BRM V12 and gearbox.
The missing roof was reverse-engineered using surviving original paperwork and period photographs, allowing the car to be returned to its closed-cockpit Le Mans specification almost three decades after Dawson’s involvement with its later incarnation. BRM says the restored P351 now runs on sustainable fuel. Preparations are focused on returning it to competitive racing, although details of its race programme remain to be announced. The company is inviting interested parties to contact it for an invitation to the first test day later this year.
The P15 alongside the P351 at Silverstone represented the other end of BRM’s competition history. The original P15, first completed in 1949, used a supercharged 1.5-litre V16, placing two markedly different engine configurations and more than four decades of racing development together on the grid.
Chassis IV itself is a modern continuation of the P15, built by Hall & Hall and unveiled at the Goodwood Revival in 2021. It subsequently returned to the Revival to race in 2022, reflecting the Owen family’s intention that the newly constructed V16 cars should be used in competition.
“Seeing the P351 restored and back at Silverstone alongside the P15 shows just how broad the BRM story really is,” said Simon Owen, grandson of BRM owner Sir Alfred Owen. “The P15 represents the extraordinary ambition with which BRM began in 1949. More than 40 years later, the P351 was created with that same ambition for a completely different form of international motor sport. But this isn’t about looking backwards. The P351 was built to race, and that is exactly what we intend for it to do again.”
More details on the P351 can be found here.
