You might not remember Icona’s awesome supercar, but that’s about to change.
Called the Vulcano, this perfectly sculpted, Italian-made dream-machine debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show, back in 2013. It was a striking-looking thing, born out of Chinese money and Italian craftsmanship. In fact, back then it was presented with a choice of hybrid powertrains, most notable of which was the 950 horses 6.0-litre V12 hybrid monster.
Overall, the rig ticked all the boxes – looks, performance, fine workmanship – but unfortunately, after its 15 minutes of fame at the Chinese auto salon and a couple more at that year’s Pebble Beach event, It vanished like Cinderella before midnight.
Until now. Yup, the brute is back and it will appear once again at Pebble Beach as a one-off creation made out of titanium and carbon fiber. It will be a feast for the eyes mainly because its theatrical form won’t be covered with paint, just so the bystanders can admire the naked titanium body that took 1000 hours to be hand crafted.
Its designer, Samuel Chuffart, took it up a notch, stating:
“Inspiration for the Vulcano came from the world’s fastest plane, the Blackbird SR-71, whose sharp and dramatic silhouette complimenting its sensual surface transitions was key to the styling of the Vulcano.”
The coachwork was done by Cecomp, an Italian coachbuilder located in Turin, specialized in developing prototypes and models for car manufacturers such as Toyota, Maserati and Lancia. In fact, the iconic Lancia S4 came out of their studios.
The powertrain of the Vulcano was developed by Claudio Lombardi, an ex-Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari GT engineer. That said, the mid-front engine supercar just ditched the hybrid powertrain in favor for supercharged, Corvette ZR1-sourced, 6.2-liter V8 that cranks up 670 HP and 840Nm (619lb-ft) of torque, but can be tuned to “well over 1000 horsepower” if the customer demands it – or at least that’s what the manufacturer says.
Furthermore, the Automatic Modena close-ratio, paddle-shift gearbox will make sure the car sprints from 0 to 100 Km/h (62 Mph) in 2.8 seconds and reaches the 354 km/h (220 mph) mark.
Does this car have the right ingredients, or what? Let’s just hope after the event is over, it won’t take another two years before seeing it again.
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