Supercar A Bolt from Les Bleus

The French may have fallen just short of conquering the rugby world but they can still lay claim to the world's fastest production car, the Bugatti Veyron.

And now a second French car maker is attempting to launch a supercar. Little-known Genty Automobile has aspirations of joining the supercar elite with its ultra-exclusive Akylone coupe.

How exclusive? Just 15 will be built by the independent producer, based in the middle of France. That's a whole 62 fewer cars than Aston Martin's bespoke One-77 flagship.

Expect a similar price tag to the Aston, too. Powering the Akylone is a rear, mid-mounted 4.8-litre twin-turbo V8 delivering 745kW of power at a stratospheric 8000rpm and 1270Nm torque at 5000rpm, according to the small company.

Unlike its high-powered, all-wheel-drive compatriot, however, the Akylone's rear wheels have the sole responsibility of putting power to the ground via a seven-speed sequential transmission, which makes its planned 2.7-second sprint time to 100km/h appear a tad optimistic.

Bugatti's 883kW/1500Nm Veyron Super Sport flagship also has the Akylone's measure in top-end speed, with its 431km/h top speed shading the new entrant's 354km/h.

The Akylone project came to life more than four years ago when Frederic Genty, the brand's founder, began designing a carbon-fibre chassis with aluminum components.

Despite getting help from outside suppliers, Genty will design and engineer most of the car's components itself using in-house designers and engineers.

Sumber :sydney morning herald

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