A new Dutch startup called Sanrivatti has revealed a hypercar concept that puts the driver in a prone, head-forward riding position almost identical to how a MotoGP rider sits on a superbike. It’s called the “Apex Position” and the idea is straightforward: instead of sitting upright behind a wheel, you’d lean forward into the car the way a rider leans into a bike, with the goal of making body movement part of how the car is actually driven.
What Exactly Is the Sanrivatti “Apex Position”?
Instead of the usual seated cockpit, Sanrivatti’s layout puts the driver’s head and torso pushed forward, legs stretched back likely straddling a central tunnel where the transmission or battery would normally sit. Founder Santiago Sánchez Rivero says the thinking behind it is that conventional car interiors, no matter how advanced, separate the driver from the machine through layers of seating, electronics and decades of convention while a motorcycle rider feels every shift in balance and weight directly.
Whether that translates into something genuinely faster or just feels disorienting at speed is the open question here since this kind of close, physical feedback works on a bike partly because the rider’s whole body is exposed and unprotected which isn’t remotely true inside a car cabin.
Who’s Actually Behind This Project?
This isn’t a one-person passion project. Rivero previously worked at Donkervoort, the Dutch low-volume sports car maker and he’s brought in serious industry names to build it out. Paul Arkesden, formerly VP of Engineering at Singer Vehicle Design and the program leader behind the McLaren P1 hypercar, is on the team alongside Geoff Dowding, who held director-level roles at both Bentley and Lotus. That combination of restomod, hypercar and luxury manufacturing experience is what’s getting this concept taken seriously rather than dismissed outright.
Is This Hypercar Actually Going to Get Built?
That’s still genuinely unclear. Sanrivatti hasn’t released any details on powertrain, chassis materials, performance figures or price and a prone driving position like this raises real questions around crash safety and whether existing regulations even account for a layout like it. A similar prone-seating idea has shown up before in concept form including McLaren’s own Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo but those stayed digital exercises rather than road-legal cars.
For now, Sanrivatti remains a concept with credible engineering backing and not a confirmed production vehicle. There’s no indication yet of where, or whether it’ll ever go on sale.