Art & Design In Gear the
Art & Design In Gear the 1,389kg Huracán towards the horizon through 413lb ft of torque. Lamborghini’s new Performance Traction Control System has been specifically calibrated to keep the power planted as it exits corners or the car slides. There are three dynamic settings, with Corsa mode being the punchiest, and this sees an improvement of 20% more traction and 30% greater oversteer enhancement than its predecessor, making it smooth, easy-to-drive fast and a huge amount of fun. Zero to 100kph takes 3.5 seconds and top speed is 324kph. The 610bhp 5.2l naturally aspirated V10 sounds like Axl Rose dropped a bowl of hot soup in his lap; an urgent, boisterous howl emanating inches behind the seats. This is perhaps the most spine-tingling engine fitted to any current production car. It makes turbocharged rivals feel fusty and oldfashioned when the whole point of a fruithued mid-engined convertible is to tear open its Hawaiian shirt and cause a scene. When the Huracán first arrived in 2014, some Lamborghini appassionata felt it was too elegant, almost muted, and not “intergalactic” enough. The designers’ razor-thin balancing act keeps the shape sleek, but also adds some neatly aggressive details in this most recent facelift, including a new, cleaner front splitter and vertical fins within the larger framed air intakes. The rear bumper incorporates a new diffuser unique to this car, hinting that it’s not only stateof-the-art software and P Zero rubber that makes this car so sticky in the bends; the aero produces a crushing amount of downforce. Overall, it has soul that far surpasses its Audi R8 underpinnings, even before you start it up. Should customers want to make it more eye-catching, the company’s Ad Personam bespoke service provides unsurpassed options for colour and trim personalisation. The body-coloured materials and choppedcarbon details in our test car might not be to more traditional tastes. The ignition button requires the pilot to flick open an aluminium safety switch, as if firing an ejector seat – an absurdly amusing detail. At £188,900, the RWD Spyder’s price is substantially scaled down compared to the 40kg heavier, more powerful yet complex EVO AWD, and the result is a more lissom and rewarding roadster. It mightn’t be the quickest, but it’s the best small supercar Lamborghini has ever produced. lamborghini.com • HOLY TRINITY The most noteworthy supercars heading our way in 2021 MASERATI MC20 This September, Maserati announced ambitious new plans, led by a mid-engined supercar that will hit the road in the spring. The MC20 takes design nods from the trident-marque’s last unabashed performance car, 2004’s now-legendary MC12, and the handsome A6GCS from the 1950s, while it’s the first Maserati to be fitted with butterfly doors. Powered by an all-new 621bhp turbocharged V6, which uses F1-derived twin combustion technology, it brings to mind a 21st-century Ferrari Dino with a lot of extra oomph. maserati.com LOTUS EVIJA Loti (to use the plural) are usually defined by their lightweight and modest cubic capacity. Here, the philosophy has changed. Powered by four electric motors, the 1,680kg Evija produces a positively insane 1,970bhp and 1,254lb ft of torque. Expected in mid-2021, 130 units will be built. Put a bet on whoever plays the next 007 driving one of these. lotuscars.com M c LAREN 765LT McLaren’s “longtail” cars have always been the connoisseur’s choice. Built in relatively small numbers, they have a stretched physique, more power and greater driver focus. The 765LT is based on the incredible 720S, radically lightened to 1,229kg, lowered and with 25% more downforce. Squeezing 755bhp from McLaren’s 4.0 V8, it’s the most powerful LT yet and should prove the fastest car in its price range of approximately £300,000. cars.mclaren.com Maserati MC20 Lotus Evija McLaren 765LT PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: WOLFANGO, © McLAREN, JOHN WYCHERLEY, DANIELE IANNOCCARI 44 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
The Ascent of Ares A conversation with Dany Bahar, CEO of progressive Italian coachbuilder Ares Design PHOTOS COURTESY ARES Ares Design, which launched five years ago, is coachbuilding old-school supercars for the roaring 2020s. Its reimagining of the classic De Tomaso Pantera has picked up design awards, while it is launching an all-new artisanal hypercar that will sound like the apocalypse. In a world full of increasingly silent cookie-cutter cars, Ares’ CEO Dany Bahar – who spearheaded Red Bull’s entry into Formula One – is going against the grain. Aren’t independent coachbuilders and automotive design houses an endangered species? There are many ateliers still, but designing, developing and manufacturing vehicles in-house with a relatively big workforce is something you rarely find these days. Our factory allows us to preserve a very high level of quality control from A to Z. Ultimately, we’re trying to make coachbuilding – something that was very normal 50-100 years ago – accessible again. And being based in Modena, Italy, we have an incredible ecosystem and talent pool here. It’s supercar ground-zero. We don’t develop our own powertrains and infotainment systems; we leave that to OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] who invest billions in this. We clothe it with our own Italian craftsmanship, bespoke sculpted bodies, leather, wood, carbon fibre. It ends up being auto-couture. The Panther ProgettoUno takes the ethos and aesthetic of something from the past and creates a contemporary supercar. How did this project come about? We had a customer who owned four original De Tomaso Panteras, but he found them to be extremely dangerous! Together we created a modern interpretation, with none of the bad habits, and the result was so beautiful we decided to build 24 of them. What’s the craziest project you’ve worked on? Taste is subjective! Some minds are more open than others. One customer gave us his girlfriend’s jeans and wanted the interior furnished in the same denim. Another very high-profile entrepreneur spent a whole four weeks with us on the design of the steering wheel. He explained to me that when he’s driving, he feels like he has the world in his hands, and it’s the most important item in the whole car. Often these designs start with a sketch on a napkin. There is huge satisfaction in having a car born completely from your own imagination. Some clients want their car to be a complete one-off and fund 100% of its development. They therefore own the IP. Bahar’s forwardlooking company has created the Panther ProgettoUno, above, and the new S Project, left In the forthcoming S Project, you have an entirely forward-looking all-Ares machine. Is this a new direction for your company? Absolutely. We have two directions: we have some designs that are inspired by the past, icons from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, and we reimagine them so they become a mix of modern and traditional style. This is not something we’re abandoning, but there’s a new chapter: we want to make our own products which do not resemble any other. We want to launch three different models over the next four years, and the first is the “halo” car – the S Project. It will be very exclusive, just 24 units. No hybridisation or electrification, no turbos. Instead, it will be powered by a 705bhp normally aspirated V8 which will rev to 9,000rpm and sound like a Formula One car from a decade ago. It won’t be the fastest, most high-tech hypercar out there, and it’s nowhere near the price of many – but what it will be is fun. It’s about pure driving pleasure, owning something very few people have and making the most glorious noise. aresdesign.com• CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 45
