Sep 2010
In this issue:
Bringing home the bacon
The Danes join the Scandinavian supercar renaissance with a staggering four-wheeled monster that takes its cues from a fighter jet
Issue: Jan, 2010
It was a late afternoon pop quiz that lasted roughly 30 seconds: Name a Danish car maker. As far as we could tell – and the “we” includes the editorial team at sister publication Torque – no Dane has ever bothered to build an automobile before, never mind one that could strip paint with its windscreen wipers. But there seems to be a Scandinavia-wide mission to shed the region of its solid, dependable and relentlessly, bone-chillingly dull reputation, beginning with Swedish supercar company Keonigsegg and now hopping across the Baltic to the good folks at Zenvo.
The brand-new – and possibly only – Danish carmaker has just revealed pictures of the ST1, a jagged-edged cross between a Lamborghini Gallardo’s wedge, the grille of a Nissan GTR and the Lotus Evora, whose rear-end shape, complete with contoured spoiler, they also seem to have borrowed. Indeed, although this is claimed to have been an in-house effort, it seems to be a supercar “best of”. But at least they chose the right cars to mimic.
The ST1 will hopefully go into production early next year, and its looks are set to compete with just about every sports car there is, from a Porsche 911 Boxster all the way to Virgin’s new F1 car. One look at the performance indicators, though, means it will have to be taken very, very seriously by each and every rival: the V8 engine, rumoured to have been based on a GM, will produce a ludicrous 1,104bhp, and that in turn will hurl this silver dart down the nearest airstrip at speeds topping 375kph – which itself is electronically limited. Acceleration, if your neck can stand the Gs, will see you hit 100kph from a standing start in around 3 seconds.
Of course, those cartoons a few years ago might dent sales in Saudi, about the only place that can afford the Danish entrant onto the global motor show stage. And we’re saying that before even knowing the cost. Reports are it will be $1.2 million, but frankly anything over forty grand is out of our range.
