CremeDeLaCreme
May 31st, 2006, 04:12 PM
Britain has a new supercar contender – and it hails from Rochdale. Famous engine-designer Al Melling has turned his hand to an entire new car, and if it develops on schedule it will race in next year’s Le Mans 24 hour race.
Seven years in the making, if it all comes off, the Melling Hellcat will be well worth waiting for.
Its eye-watering spec indicates a 6-litre V10 good for 713bhp, a top speed of well over 200mph, and a 0-60 time for 2.8 seconds, which would make it only slower than a Bugatti Veyron.
At an estimated £100,000, it will be a whole lot cheaper than the Veyron too. Starting in November 2006, just four cars a month will be made at the Melling facility in Lancashire but Melling has also signed a deal with Ford’s Rouche unit to also produce the car in the US.
The car fetures rear-wheel drive, and is designed to be strong and light; for that reason it is built around a carbonfibre monocoque with carbonfibre panels – and weighs in at just 1,220 KGs, giving it 584 bhp/tonne – compared to a mere 483 bhp/tonne for the Ferrari Enzo. This will be almighty fast car.
British supercars come and go, with sadly few ending up as finished products, mostly because the development costs on these cars can be enormous. The Veyron cost hundreds of millions of Euros to develop, and may never recoup these costs with sales. We can be more positive about the Hellcat as it is the brainchild of a respected engine designer. Al Melling has designed engines for Jaguar and TVR, with one of his most recent developments a V10 for Lola.
http://cars.msn.co.uk/carnews/mellingmay06/
Seven years in the making, if it all comes off, the Melling Hellcat will be well worth waiting for.
Its eye-watering spec indicates a 6-litre V10 good for 713bhp, a top speed of well over 200mph, and a 0-60 time for 2.8 seconds, which would make it only slower than a Bugatti Veyron.
At an estimated £100,000, it will be a whole lot cheaper than the Veyron too. Starting in November 2006, just four cars a month will be made at the Melling facility in Lancashire but Melling has also signed a deal with Ford’s Rouche unit to also produce the car in the US.
The car fetures rear-wheel drive, and is designed to be strong and light; for that reason it is built around a carbonfibre monocoque with carbonfibre panels – and weighs in at just 1,220 KGs, giving it 584 bhp/tonne – compared to a mere 483 bhp/tonne for the Ferrari Enzo. This will be almighty fast car.
British supercars come and go, with sadly few ending up as finished products, mostly because the development costs on these cars can be enormous. The Veyron cost hundreds of millions of Euros to develop, and may never recoup these costs with sales. We can be more positive about the Hellcat as it is the brainchild of a respected engine designer. Al Melling has designed engines for Jaguar and TVR, with one of his most recent developments a V10 for Lola.
http://cars.msn.co.uk/carnews/mellingmay06/