The striking Aspid GT-21 Invictus is a new sports coupe design with roots in Spain. It combines BMW power, lightweight components and unique looks into a driver-oriented package designed to scream around the track like a real race car.
The GT-21 Invictus is a bigger, more powerful, more modernized complement to Aspid's Super Sport, a retro-inspired open-wheeled concept it unveiled in 2008. The GT-21 represents the latest turn in Aspid's quest to build a super-light car with race-like driving characteristics.
The GT-21 starts off with the same lightweight chassis design as the Super Sport, but Aspid pounds and molds aerospace-grade aluminum, ultralight ultra-strength steel and composites into an entirely more modern reinterpretation. While it's clearly updated, you can see the Super Sport's soul through the shiny composite body, especially when you look upon the semi-open front wheels, hammerhead front fascia and narrow hood. Aspid calls it the first semi-open-wheel GT 2 + 2 in the world, and while we haven't verified that as fact, it definitely has a persona all its own.
To offer the same level of performance as the Super Sport, Aspid uses a larger 450-hp 4.4-liter V-8 engine sourced from BMW. That engine feeds the rear wheels by way of a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission or six-speed manual.
The 450-hp may sound modest when compared with the ~700 hp of other high performance European sports cars, but given the GT-21's dry weight of around 2,200 lbs. (990 kg), it's all Aspid needs to jot down a 0-to-62 mph (100 km/h) time of under 3 seconds - that's the same ballpark as the Lamborghini Aventador and its 690-hp V-12 engine. Top speed is around 189 mph (305 km/h).
GT-21 Invictus production will be capped at 250 models per year to maintain exclusivity, and each model will be built by hand. Buyers will be able to choose from more than 100 options, ensuring a personalized touch. Those options aren't limited to the usual materials and equipment catalog, but also extend to the car's geometry, build and handling. Customers will be invited to Aspid's factory and will have close input on the car's construction. Twenty dealers across Europe will facilitate sales.
"We aim to offer a unique and unforgettable experience when a customer buys one of our sports cars," explains chief designer and company founder Ignacio Fernández Rodriquez. "We believe our factory model and our relationship with each customer will be unique and set a new standard in the market. It will be more like the relationship experienced between a professional race driver and his race engineer and race team."
Aspid released the first images of the GT-21 Invictus this week. It plans to get production started on both the GT-21 and the Super Sport within the next two years, leaving plenty of time for it to figure out the right price for the unique hand-built cars.
Source: Aspid
