In February 2023, Italian car maker Bizzarrini provided a tantalizing preview of their forthcoming Hyper GT, the Giotto. Six months later, after conducting thorough aerodynamic assessments that confirmed the efficacy of Giugiaro’s design, Bizzarrini has now unveiled comprehensive images of the Giotto, offering the public an in-depth look at this hypercar.
Additionally, the company has shared some information about the exclusive V12 powertrain that will propel the Giotto, building anticipation for its official launch.
The Giotto, which bears the name of the company’s founder and engineering virtuoso, Giotto Bizzarrini, is a product of design collaboration between Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio at GFG Style, located in Turin, Italy. This collaboration marks the renewal of a brand partnership that was first established six decades ago. At that time, a young Giorgetto, during his tenure at Bertone, contributed to the design of the original and iconic Bizzarrini 5300 GT.
Recently unveiled during Monterey Car Week in California, the Zenvo Aurora marks the Danish automaker’s newest entry into the world of supercars. The public introduction showcases two distinct iterations: the Tur, designed for grand touring, and the Agil, optimised for track performance. Notably, both versions are limited to a production run of just 50 units each.
Agil
Both iterations of the Aurora exhibit a distinctive sharp-edged design. The Agil features a prominent large wing, while the Touring variant presents a sleeker and cleaner silhouette.
McLaren’s track-only Solus GT will make its dynamic debut at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, turning a Gran Turismo idea into reality. This hypercar, known as the Solus GT, has a 5.2-liter V10 with bodywork that appears like it belongs in a futuristic video game.
The Solus GT first made its virtual premiere in Gran Turismo Sport back in 2017. The McLaren Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo was what it was called back then.
The Solus is astonishingly similar to an LMP (Le Mans Prototype) car in terms of specifications and technology as there are 264 3D printed parts utilised in the Solus GT.
Numerous characteristics strongly convey the feeling of dream becoming reality such as:
The sliding glass canopy, which curves forward to give access to the single seat in the middle
Aerodynamic pods that encase each wheel
The front splitter, which directs air through ground-effect tunnels and out the back diffuser
The motorsport-inspired intake above the cockpit that supplies the engine with cold air
A twin-element fixed rear wing
Additionally, the car features the recognisable McLaren “hammerhead” nose and teardrop cockpit with a wraparound canopy screen that offers a 180-degree perspective of the circuit.
The seat is firmly locked into place. However, the pedal box is completely adjustable, similar to the LaFerrari or a race-specific car. The Solus GT differs from a Formula 1 car in that the pedals are simple to alter while seated.
The majority of the main controls and a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display are located on the carbon fibre steering wheel. Above the driver’s head are the ignition switches and a fire extinguisher that is connected to the cars plumbing, along with a complete heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.
Mclaren’s racing heritage is embedded everywhere in the Solus GT’s specifications, McLaren’s racing heritage. Its carbon fibre monocoque tub blends the company’s expertise from the last 40 years of creating road and race cars with a technological layout that is strikingly similar to previous and current LMP endurance racers. The front and rear impact structures are built from carbon fibre rather than aluminium as they are on the company’s road cars.
The 5.2 litre V10 engine produces more than 840PS and can rev up to 10,000 rpm. All of this is contained into a compact shell that weighs less than 1,000 kg and produces 1,200 kg of downforce. It does 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of 322km/h and is controlled using a seven-speed sequential gearbox.
According to McLaren, the Solus GT is as near to the sensation and experience of driving a Formula 1 car as you can get. You can actually listen to what the screaming V10 sounds like at McLaren’s website. Just head on to the “Power” tab and let the sound of music play.
Its debut is a part of McLaren’s 60th anniversary celebration, which also includes a line up of other modern models alongside historic ones. The new 750S mid-engine supercar will make its debut and along for the high-speed fun will be McLaren’s latest hybrid supercar, the Artura. But neither of those cars will be able to match the raw power of the Solus GT.
McLaren Artura
Only 25 of these are being produced, with a price tag that swings around $3.5 million (RM16.3 million).
The Mission X, a brand-new electric hypercar concept from Porsche, may be the fastest road-legal car to ever complete a lap of the renowned Nürburgring racetrack, according to the automaker. If it goes into production
The hypercar was displayed as part of Porsche’s 75th-anniversary commemoration of producing sports vehicles since the release of the original Porsche 356 on June 8, 1948.
The Mission X concept study is a compact hypercar, measuring around 4.5 metres long and two metres wide. Its dimensions are similar to those of the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder, with a wheelbase of 2.73 metres. The prototype car has mixed-size tyres, with 20-inch wheels in front and 21-inch wheels in back, for aerodynamic reasons.
The first time the world heard about a super Bugatti (actually all Bugattis are super anyway) was in late 2020 when the idea of a lightweight, track-only hyper sportscar was presented. The following year, at The Quail (a motorsports gathering) in August 2021, the carmaker announced that it would develop the Bolide, as the car would be known, into a limited production model.
The production run would be for just 40 units, all built around the iconic W16 engine. 20 months have passed and during that time, the engineers have been developing the car to an entirely new level of engineering, aerodynamic and technological innovation.
It’s difficult to say which was the first hypercar the term itself refers to a car with extremely high performance, beyond the normal performance limits of supercars. It could be based on a minimum power output, say 800 bhp, or it could be dependent on the era as technological levels have constantly advanced.
The Bugatti Veyron launched in 2005 with 987 bhp (1001 ps) could be a candidate for the first hypercar. In any case, there are now a number of models which produce in excess of 1000 ps and therefore qualify as hypercars.
The appearance of hypercars has inevitably led to the creation of a category in motorsport which has seen the first racing cars competing this year. The Hypercar category, a joint project of the FIA and the ACO, envisaged as the new top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, has attracted a number of carmakers with 13 full-season Hypercar entries from 7 manufacturers.
Two years ago, at The Quail in California, Bugatti presented a surprise to guests at the famous motorsports gathering. It was the Bolide, just a concept then but the carmaker announced that it would make the car in limited numbers. Response was instantaneous – within a week, all 40 units of the radically light track-oriented Bugatti machine were booked.
Each costing no less than 4 million euros (about RM18.55 million), the Bolide is the most extreme Bugatti ever created. One motoring writer went as far as the describe it as ‘a Thermonuclear Do-It-All Performance Machine’.
The Bolides are still on the production line in France and the first of the cars with the legendary W16 quad-turbocharged engine will be delivered to customers only next year. But you can have a Bolide at your home or office before them – and it will cost you only 50 euros (RM232) which is a lot less too.
Unless governments ban cars with combustion engines altogether, we’re going to have them around for some time to come. While the mainstream carmakers are rushing towards electrification, even for high-performance models, specialists like Hennessey Performance are still continuing to develop hypercars with the good old internal combustion engine.
The Texas-based company is well known for high-performance cars and has been making hypercars for a few years now. Its latest creation is a new, lighter, track-focused version of the Venom F5 called the Venom F5 Revolution Coupe. This is an apex predator on a racing circuit, with the claim of being the most powerful pure-combustion hypercar in the world.
Each time Bugatti announces a new model, it is sold out almost immediately. And because only a very small number will be made, it is already a collector’s item. The Centodieci, for example, was so sought after by customers that all 10 units were booked even before being officially revealed.
With the Chiron Profilee, however, it is a different matter: Bugatti has announced it and shown it but is not taking any bookings for the single unit built. This will be a truly one-of-a-kind model which will be put on auction by RM Sotheby’s on February 1, 2023, with a percentage of the proceeds going to benefit charitable causes.
Mention of Bertone will bring to mind the exotic supercars of the 1960s and 1970s, the most notable probably being the various Lamborghini models. Although Nuccio Bertone passed away in 1997, the greatness of the company as an automotive design studio has lived on. On the 110th anniversary of its founding, it has unveiled the first in a series of limited edition hypercars.
This is the GB110, which starts a new era for Bertone under its current owners – Mauro and Jean-Franck Ricci – who acquired the Bertone brand in 2020. “We are building this car for customers that appreciate the history and legacy of Bertone. And for connoisseurs who love sportscars with exceptional performance. It’s not only about raw power and performance. It’s about celebrating the long Italian tradition of timeless elegant cars,” said Jean-Franck Ricci, CEO of Bertone.
