After 18 months of teasers and track-test videos, the Apollo Intensa Emozione is finally going into production and the first customers will be getting their cars sometime during the summer.
Apollo Automobile (previously Gumper) has only ever produced one real car – the Gumpert Apollo. But it managed to secure a place at the top of the hypercar list, beating cars like Bugatti Veyron and Pagani Zonda.
Under its new Chinese ownership, Apollo partnered the legendary motorsports company HWE to develop their latest hypercar – the Intensa Emozione. HWE brought us Mercedes CLK GTR and is responsible for the Mercedes’ long-term success in DTM.
Even though such a legacy would raise your expectations, nobody is quite ready to meet the Intensa Emozione in person. It’s as much an engineering miracle as an artistic masterpiece.
Visually, it’s out of this world. Designer Joe Wong was inspired by the brutal efficiency of nature’s most successful predators. A bundle of organic forms interweave and blend to create a very busy and aggressive body.
But it’s not just a sculpture. Even without active aerodynamics, the Intensa Emozione generates almost 3,000 lbs of downforce at 186 mph. At the same time, the car weighs just 2,760 lbs.
So, if you’re brave enough and find the right tunnel, you could stick it to the walls.
Don’t worry about crashing. The carbon fiber construction is strong enough to conform to LMP2 standards. The center monocoque is a roll cage in itself, designed to offer maximum protection from all sides. The gullwing doors have special hinges that can be disengaged to exit the vehicle after a collision. An integrated fire suppression system will protect both the cabin and engine bay in the worst case scenario.
At the heart of the car is a naturally-aspirated, 6.3-liter V12 engine developed by Autotecnica Motori. The base engine will rev up to 9,000 RPM, generating 780 horsepower and 561 lbs-ft of torque.
Upon request, customers can have their engine upgraded to 1,000 hp and 11,000 RPM with a 16:1 compression ratio. All this power is transmitted to the rear wheels through a six-speed Hewland racing pneumatic gearbox and a Pankl Racing Systems differential.
As a result, the Apollo IE will accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds and go up to 208 mph.
Each of the 10 cars planned for production will be custom fitted to its owner. Apollo will 3D scan their customers to design perfectly ergonomic seats, which will be glued in a fixed position to the monocoque.
Despite a heavily saturated high-end vehicle market, Apollo Intensa Emozione manages to stand out and shine bright on its own. It could be the analog experience of the NA engine and manual gearbox. It could be the wild exterior that locks your eyes into a drooling gaze.
Whatever it is, we’ve heard all 10 vehicles are already sold out at $2.7 million per piece.