Ex-Jaguar design chief Ian Callum is reviving one of his best-loved designs for a range-extender hypercar that aims to fill the space vacated in 2012 by the stillborn Jaguar C-X75 project, with backing from a Swiss-based Hungarian entrepreneur. The car, costing “several millions”, will utilise top British design and engineering know-how and be built in the UK.
It has been named the Kincsem (pronounced ‘kin-chem’) in tribute to a famed Hungarian racehorse that was brought to the UK in the 1870s and won 54 races from 54 starts, scoring its most momentous victories at Goodwood in West Sussex.
The project’s instigator, industrialist Tibor Bak, wants to combine “British expertise and Hungarian verve” to create the new car, which will have a carbonfibre monocoque chassis and be propelled by four electric motors using power generated by a small, ultra-high-revving normally aspirated petrol engine, possibly of V10 layout.
The engine is designed to rev to around 13,000rpm and to “sound like an F1 car”. Power output from the engine has yet to be specified, but it’s likely to exceed 300bhp.
However, the Kincsem’s total power output will be considerably more than that. Its maker has yet to disclose the total output of the four drive motors, but it promises true hypercar performance.
The Kincsem is intended to be the precursor of a new Hungary-based super-luxury EV brand, with the ultimate aim of launching a range of Callum-designed SUVs, priced to take on the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Bak said that his new business plan involves bringing these to market by 2025.
The Kincsem’s exterior details and shape are expected to be finalised in a full-sized clay model this autumn and a completed prototype will be first seen in public, fittingly, at next year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. A batch of 54 production cars (one for each of the famous racehorse’s wins) is to be made at an as yet undisclosed UK factory.
Although the price has yet to be fixed, there has already been “significant interest” from potential owners who have been contacted discreetly by the Kincsem team. The first production models should reach their owners during 2023.
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Why on earth use a v10 to charge a battery? You could do it with a small very lightweight engine. This makes no sense.