We’ve been waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Dallara’s first in-house road car. And while it may take a little while yet to surface, at least we now know what to call it. Probably.
According to Autocar, the racing car constructor has filed a trademark for the name Stradale – the Italian word for “street” that’s often used to connote a race car for the road.
Think along the lines of the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale and you’ll be on the right track. Only the Dallara Stradale isn’t being based on an existing chassis – it’s being developed from the ground up as an extreme sports car for the road. As our compatriots at Motor1 point out, the handle comes from the same culture that has given us such plainly named models as the Maserati Quattroporte (“four-door”)… or for that matter, Ferrari LaFerrari (literally “the Ferrari”).
Whatever it’s called, the sports car is being made by a company best known for its racing chassis – like the one it builds for the IndyCar Series, to say nothing of all the other single-seaters and sports prototypes it has made over the past 45 years. But Dallara also has a wealth of expertise it has lent to other automakers for their hardcore road cars, like the KTM X-Bow and Alfa Romeo 4C that will likely be the closest competitors to the forthcoming Stradale.
Expect a 2.3-liter Ford EcoBoost turbo four to produce as much as 400 horsepower in a vehicle weighing around just 1,700 pounds to outmaneuver just about anything else on the road. The vehicle is anticipated to arrive sometime next year, when legendary founder Gianpaolo Dallara will turn 80 and prepare for his retirement.
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