The Arash Motor Company, founded in 1999, has some experience in creating modern mid-engined supercar shapes, and its latest creation is called the AF8. The car is based on the company’s philosophy that “cars should have a distinctive and individual character. Above all they should be exhilarating to drive and to own” – solid principles, wouldn’t you agree?
The car itself not only looks pretty cool, but it also has specs that make it even more attention-worthy: C6 Corvette Z06-sourced seven-liter V8 with 550 naturally-aspirated horses and a six-speed manual gearbox that is mounted on the rear subframe where it sends power straight to the back wheels.
The body is made out of carbon fiber and the chassis is made using the tried and true method of welding many steel tubes into shapes – they call it a “hybrid” construction because it too features some carbon bits, so it’s not actually all steel (just most of it).
Weight is fairly low as a result, and the aggressive AF8 tips the scales at 1,200 kg or 2,645 lbs – that’s a bit more than a 1.6-liter diesel Ford Fiesta. Performance matches the look, with a claimed benchmark sprint time of 3.5 seconds and 320 km/h or 200 mph top speed (both are subject to change once it’s actually tested on tarmac).
Comfort features include a heated front screen, carbon interior trim bits, air-con, touchscreen infotainment, bi-xenon headlights and LED rear lights; its luggage capacity will limit its practical uses, though, as it can only accommodate 42 liters of its future owner’s stuff.
Pricing and additional information will be revealed closer to launch, which is probably set for some time this year; one thing’s for sure, though, it will definitely be cheaper than the bigger Arash AF10, released in 2010 with windscreen sticker of close to one million dollars.
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
