The Oreca 07 grew directly from the Oreca 05 programme. When the FIA and ACO announced revised LMP2 regulations for 2017, Oreca chose to develop a new car based on the proven architecture of the 05 rather than starting from scratch, with the goal of maximising performance within resource efficiency targets. The chassis monocoque received less development priority than other elements, keeping continuity with the 05. The car was fitted with the Gibson GK428 V8 producing 600 hp at launch; in 2020, power was reduced by approximately 60 hp following the introduction of the Le Mans Hypercar regulations, which required balancing of the prototype classes.
The first factory shakedown took place at Circuit Paul Ricard in late October 2016, giving teams relatively little time before the 2017 season opener. Despite this compressed timeline, the 07 was immediately competitive.
The Oreca 07 proved strikingly faster than its LMP2 rivals from its first season of competition in 2017. After the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the performance gap was substantial enough that the Automobile Club de l'Ouest took the unusual step of allowing rival chassis builders — Dallara, Ligier, and Riley/Multimatic — to introduce extensive upgrade packages to narrow the deficit, while simultaneously preventing Oreca from making equivalent improvements. Even with these handicaps, teams continued to favour the 07 over competing chassis, and by the mid-2020s virtually every team in any series featuring an LMP2 class or equivalent was running Oreca 07s.
The 100th chassis — technically the 99th, due to Oreca skipping number 13 — was delivered to Cool Racing for the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans and later displayed at Oreca's showroom. The 07 is scheduled to be replaced by the Oreca 09 when the FIA and ACO introduce revised LMP2 regulations in 2028.
Honda Performance Development and Oreca collaborated on the Acura ARX-05, a DPi variant developed for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's Prototype class. The ARX-05 uses Acura-specific bodywork and a production-based 3.5-litre Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged V6 in place of the Gibson unit. Team Penske campaigned ARX-05s from 2018 to 2020, winning the DPi class championship in 2019 and 2020. Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing subsequently ran the cars through 2022.
Alpine worked with Signatech to develop the A470, which carries Alpine branding but is internally identical to the standard Oreca 07. Launched ahead of the 2017 WEC season, the A470 succeeded the Alpine A460. Alpine raced the car for four seasons and won the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams with Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao, and Pierre Thiriet driving.
Russian manufacturer Aurus Motors partnered with G-Drive Racing in 2019 to field a rebranded version of the Oreca 07 in the European Le Mans Series under the Aurus 01 name. The car was technically identical to the standard 07 but carried Aurus branding. G-Drive and Aurus competed together for three seasons, recording four race victories before FIA sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the programme's withdrawal.
Swiss team Rebellion Racing commissioned Oreca to build an LMP1-specification variant known as the Rebellion R13. The car competed against Toyota's factory entries across multiple WEC seasons, finishing second in the overall championship on each occasion. Alpine later rebranded the R13 as the A480, running it in grandfathered condition in the Hypercar class in 2021 and 2022 before replacing it with the purpose-built Alpine A424.
No single chassis has shaped the LMP2 landscape more comprehensively than the Oreca 07. Its success effectively standardised the class around a single marque, a situation unprecedented in the history of sports prototype racing at this level. The car's longevity — spanning from 2017 well into the 2020s — reflects the quality of its original design and Oreca's ability to develop and support the platform continuously. Its successors in the ARX-05, Aurus 01, and Alpine programmes further demonstrate how the 07 served as a foundation for manufacturer-branded programmes that might otherwise have required entirely bespoke designs.