Walking the Geneva show floor tends to dull one’s perception of low-slung mid-engine squillion-horsepower cars the way walking a Wal-Mart parking lot renders Corollas and Civics invisible. They seem to populate every second or third stand in some halls, tallying sticker prices in the billions of euros, dollars, or Swiss Francs. Every year supercars appear in Geneva that we’ve never heard of. Here’s a look at five such newcomers, plus updates on a few other only-in-Geneva show stars.
Vanda Electrics Dendrobium
Singaporean startup Vanda Electrics currently produces a tiny electric minibike called the Motochimp and an electric utility truck called the Ant Truck. Naturally, the next logical step is a million-plus-dollar electric hypercar, right? Well, maybe, if you give it race car styling and have Williams Advance Engineering develop the Formula E–inspired drivetrain and chassis. (These guys supplied batteries to Formula E, and they also developed the C-X75 concept for Jaguar.) That’s how this Dendrobium came to be, and that’s the resume that might just get it off the ground. The car features two inboard electric motors in the front and two more in the rear, but interestingly they do not control individual wheels for torque-vectoring purposes. Rather, their output is combined and fed through a differential at each end, with a single gear reduction in front and a multispeed transmission in the rear. They’re not saying how many gears, but we’d guess achieving the 200-mph top-speed target will require at least three. The weight target is 3,850 pounds, so expect a combined power output in the 700- to 900-hp range. The company aims to build a limited run of 10–25 cars and sell them for seven figures, presuming the reaction is positive enough during the show’s public days.
Techrules Ren
Chinese automotive R & D firm Techrules is developing a Turbine-Electric Recharging Vehicle (TREV) powertrain for future use in mainstream vehicles. But it proposes to build a supercar to prove out the technology, and Geneva marked the debut of the production model, Ren. The chassis was developed and constructed by L.M. Gianetti of Turin, Italy, and the design is by Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro. The modular layout and aero-inspired cockpit design permit one, two, or three canopy bubbles for monoposto track work: two-passenger, LeMans-style driver/co-driver, or three across. The driver always sits center and forward of the passengers, as in the storied McLaren F1. Three battery capacities are envisioned, with the option of two, four, or six motors (in which case there are four in the rear), and one or two turbines. The current turbine produces 40 hp, and a 107-hp version is coming. With 21 gallons of diesel fuel, the range is estimated at 727 miles. The flagship six-motor version gets a 25-kW-hr battery and puts down 1,287 hp and 1,726 lb-ft. Yikes! Not surprisingly, 0–60 mph is estimated at 2.5 seconds; more surprising is the expected 199-mph top speed with a single-speed gear reduction (although it’s a tall 3.3:1 ratio). Initial production of 10 cars per year is envisioned to take place in Italy starting in 2018, with higher production of less extreme future models moving to China. No pricing has been established yet, but expect it to involve seven figures.
Rimac Concept One
Who knew the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia was getting in on the fast, impractical car business? Founded near Zagreb in 2009, the company refers to its Concept One as the world’s first fully electric hypercar. Well, maybe. At least the specs back that up: A big electric motor spinning each wheel provides full torque vectoring and a total of 1,224 hp and 1,180 lb-ft of torque, good for a claimed 0–62-mph time of 2.5 seconds. And by using two-speed twin-clutch gearboxes on the rear motors, they’re able to push the car to a claimed top speed of 221 mph. Cost is $1.2 million. If you’re interested, the company is reportedly developing a relationship with New York’s Manhattan Motorcars.
Sin R1 550
Sin Cars U.K. and U.S. have been racing cars of its own design in the GT4 class in Europe and in the Pirelli World Challenge series, respectively, and now the parent company has readied a road-going variation of the race car. As demanded by the racing series, the structure is a steel space frame with carbon-fiber body panels. The suspension is strictly race-grade pushrod coil-over-shock fare, and AP Racing brakes are fitted all around. The 550 hp for which it’s named are produced by a modified LS7 small-block engine mounted amidships and spinning through a Graziano transaxle. The company is seeking a distribution partner in the U.S., and if it succeeds, expect to pay north of $190,000.
Tamo Strada and Racemo+ S
Tamo is a new mobility services sub-brand of India’s Tata Motors, and it is launching a mid-engine two-seat sports car optimized for the Indian market. Small and affordable, it’s powered by a 1.2-liter turbo three-cylinder that produces a reasonable 187 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque spinning through a paddle-shifted six-speed automated-manual single-clutch transmission. Because much of India’s road network more closely resembles a rally stage than it does the Nürburgring, the car offers generous suspension travel with up to 1.6 inches of height adjustment (on Strada models; the track-oriented Racemo+ S has considerably less), and the tires have taller-than-expected sidewalls (205/50R17 front, 235/45R18 rear Goodyear Eagle F1 Directional S tires on the show car). The MOFlex platform’s chassis structure uses fiberglass and foam sandwich construction, which will underpin other models going forward, but they probably won’t feature doors that open upward as the supercar gods intended. With a stated curb weight just under 2,000 pounds, the 6-second 0–60-mph estimate sounds reasonable. The car is already “available” in Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 3 video game, and the car’s high level of connectivity allows the driver to record an actual lap on a track, upload the data, and then race against that time in the game. No word on pricing yet, but suffice to say this will be the cheapest of the cars on this list.
And now for the vaguely familiar quasi-regular Genevois supercars
Zenvo TS1 GT
Danish supercar purveyor Zenvo introduced the prototype of this new TS1 model last year, and now—in time for the company’s 10th anniversary—comes this production TS1 GT. Special anniversary touches include Fjord Blue paint, copper-bronze accents framing the exposed-carbon hood center (celebrating the fact that the Bronze Age helped Scandinavian Vikings greatly expand their influence, whereas today carbon fiber represents a similar technological leap), special 20/21-inch front/rear wheels, and a very special interior trim. This includes a Fjord Blue driver seat and black passenger seat, and many trim bezels that are milled from billet and then plated in either copper or rhodium, which gives a black-chrome look. The 5.8-liter V-8 uses two Danish Rotrex centrifugal superchargers (which employ a unique internal transmission that helps match the instant response of a Roots-type blower with the high-speed efficiency of a turbine) and produces 1,163 hp and 811 lb-ft. That’s supposedly good for a 235-mph electronically limited top speed. U.S. homologation efforts are underway. Save up—the price tag will be more than $1 million.
Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG003S
Noted American screenwriter, director, producer, and avid car collector/racer Jim Glickenhaus presides over the firm Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, which has been fielding race cars in VLN endurance races. A production road-going variant of this race car made its official debut in Geneva. It’s designed and built in Italy by Ing. Paolo Garella of Manifattura Automobili Torino. It is powered by a 4.4-liter hot-vee twin-turbo V-8 good for some 750 hp and 590 lb-ft. The car is supposedly available in the U.S., but only in kit form where you must install the engine separately. In Europe, the price works out to $1.9 million.
Koenigsegg Regera and Agera RS
Koenigsegg presented the first three production cars after previously having shown prototypes at Geneva. The 1,500-hp, 1,475-lb-ft Regera models were presented in roadster and coupe form, with the latter featuring gorgeous green-tinted exposed-weave carbon-fiber bodywork. The 1,360-hp, 1,011-lb-ft Agera RS features an enhanced aero package with bespoke gold leaf trim. All three wear extremely expensive carbon-fiber wheels, with those on the green Agera getting a gold leaf treatment.
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