Birth of a supercar

This past summer, FestivalOfSpeed.net had the good fortune of speaking with the fine folks over at Farboud Sports Cars about the upcoming GTS project. It’s not often the public at large gets treated to the birth of a supercar – especially one that has a selling price designed to be attainable for the enthusiast, so this was a rare treat to learn about a fabulous new car.

For those of you who don’t know about the history of Farboud Sports Cars, the company began only a few short years ago under the guidance of Arash Farboud who used proceeds from selling off his family business to design, develop and produce a revolutionary new car. In 2004, Evo Magazine quoted Arash as saying, “This is the car I designed for myself.” The original car used an Audi sourced V8 producing 385bhp, had a Stack instrument cluster and an F1 inspired pushrod suspension setup. Cost was not a large concern.

Late in 2004, Chris Marsh, formerly of Marcos Cars, took over the company with an eye to producing a reasonably priced road car from the original concept vehicle. No stranger to motorcar development, Mr. Marsh had previously designed and produced the Invicta S1 motorcar in only eighteen months, and has proceeded with an aggressive development target of bringing the Farboud GTS to market by 2005.

Unfortunately, Oli and I were not able to visit the factory and see the car in person, as it is currently in final development. However, the kind folks at Farboud Sports cars have agreed to meet with us in person, share their company with us and show us the car later in the year. Like much of the motoring press, we await the arrival of the Farboud GTS with baited breath. True to his word, Mr. Marsh expects the car to be unveiled prior to the end of 2005. To be noted by our US readers, Farboud has signed representation agreements and will be bringing the car to the US!

The photos in this article are of the development car – the production vehicle will differ slightly in appearance. (The rear diffuser has been lowered to improve aerodynamic efficiency, and the windscreen raised to increase visibility without raising the roofline of the car.) In the interior, refinements are taking place to optimize seat and pedal position as well. The instrument cluster will also be different, as the Stack cluster was only for the development car.

Technically, the car sounds as if it will provide a truly spirited driving experience:

The engine is expected to be offered in two configurations – a naturally aspirated, all alloy V6 block version producing 275 bhp and a supercharged version producing 375bhp (estimated).

The car will be suspended all-around on a double wishbone setup with adjustable dampening to provide a certain level of tailoring to the individual customer’s driving style.

Braking will be provided by AP Racing four pot calipers all around with 350mm discs at the front and 330mm discs at the rear. With 225 series tires in the front and 285 series in the rear, the contact patch should be sizeable enough to provide incredible traction and stability under braking.

Lightness is the key to this car’s performance. The car is expected to weigh only 1055 kilograms (2,325 pounds – a little over a ton.) The light weight is achieved by a totally carbon fiber composite body shell and tubular steel frame formed around an aluminum and steel center tub to provide increased rigidity.

All of these details add up to what may very well be the most exciting car for 2005!

Watch this space for more details as they become available.