Leblanc Mirabeau: world's quickest production car

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Leblanc Mirabeau: world's quickest production car

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Swiss supercar builder Wysstec has already built one of the most remarkable cars in automotive history. Although it only has a four cylinder motor, the turbocharged 512 bhp Leblanc Caroline is one of the quickest road cars ever recorded because it weighs just 785 kg. Now the company has produced what is almost certainly the quickest roadcar ever – the new Leblanc Mirabeau is the closest you’ll ever get to a race car for the street. Constructed of Kevlar, carbon fibre, and assorted unobtanium, it weighs just 812 kg and its powerplant comes from what was until recently the world’s fastest roadcar – the Koenigsegg CCR was recently timed at 387.87 kmh. That might not mean much if you’re not unhealthily familiar with supercar specifications, so we’ll help with some perspective. That’s less than two thirds of the weight of a Porsche Carrera GT or Saleen S7. It’s also a whopping 358 kilograms lighter than the car from which it borrowed its engine, 570kg lighter than a Ferrari Enzo and half the weight of the car that will become the fastest roadcar when it is released later this year, the Bugatti Veyron. Read all about it …

Swiss automotive manufacturer Wysstec has been a genuine supercar builder for several years now, despite the fact it tends to shun publicity and makes few statements to the press. Wysstec produces LeBlanc cars, and its first supercar offering was the Leblanc Caroline, a turbocharged four cylinder automobile of just two litres displacement .

Now a turbocharged two litre car hardly sounds like supercar territory. Examine the specifications for the whole car though and you’ll understand more of the plot. Despite a meager 2.0 litre displacement, the forced aspiration of the in-line four ups power output to 381.8 kilowatts (512 bhp).

The plot thickens when you look beyond the engine and examine the rest of the car which is constructed principally from exotic composites and weighs in as one of the lightest road cars on record with a kerb weight of just 785 kilograms.

Accordingly, the Caroline accelerates very quickly, having recorded a 0-100kmh time of just 2.7 seconds (with slick tyres), it lies second only in road car folk lore to the famous Dauer 962 LeMans road car which actually won the Le Mans 24 hour race and sold as a limited edition of 50 cars at US$800,000 each.

The Dauer 962 LeMans road car is the quickest recorded road car in media history, having accelerated from 0-100kmh in 2.6 seconds.

Several cars have recorded a time of 2.7 seconds alongside the Caroline. They are the 2000 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Concept car from General Motors, a Hennessy Venom Viper and another Dauer 962 LeMans road car. Everything else is slower. So that puts the Caroline in very elite company.

Keep the pedal to the metal and the Caroline will accelerate to 200 kmh in a tad over seven seconds and all the way to 341 kmh (212 mph) given a nice long stretch of tarmac like the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans.

Not surprisingly, the Caroline GTR is billed as a Le Mans racer for the road, and is built with the latest F1 materials including a carbon fibre monocoque to ensure the absolute rigidity of the chassis and the safety of the driver. The bodywork is also made of carbon fibre with other parts of the chassis made from titanium or magnesium to ensure the lowest possible weight with the highest possible strength, regardless of cost.

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