ARES Performance: Bahar's next move

Dany Bahar is back in the UK with a 'bespoke atelier' for supercars - purists avert your eyes!

Former Lotus boss Dany Bahar has cut the ribbon on his latest automotive project - a super-exclusive 'bespoke atelier' in London's Mayfair. Modena-based ARES' first 'boutique store', the outlet on 77 Piccadilly will trade bespoke-tweaked premium cars plus, in an exclusive distribution agreement, STREIT Group's armoured vehicles.

"Do I need 21s or 22s on my Huracan?"

ARES is Bahar's independent vision of the atelier idea he initially created at Ferrari - crafting uniquely-furnished cars costing upwards of £500,000. Not tied to one brand, it's a sweet shop of opportunities for those able to throw money at creating their very own concept car.

A new London supercar dealer opening just as supercars in London once again become A Thing? You've got to admit, Bahar's timing this time is spot on. And he knows it. "With so many of the world's wealthiest individuals favouring a summer in London, this is the perfect time and location for the first ARES boutique store."

The presumably-megabucks four-car showroom (which used to be an Infiniti dealer) opened its doors this week packed with a Lamborghini Huracan, Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz G-Class and an S-Class. That's only part of it though. The key bit is the atelier room out back; Bahar's idea is for dealer staff to help hone a set of upgrades where anything visual is possible (particularly if money is no object).

This bespoke spec will then be taken by the engineering base in Modena to handbuild a one-off. Nobody else is offering such a limitless atelier-style workshop for any brand of premium SUV, sports car or supercar, reckons Bahar.

That's quite a tie rack

"Our unique atelier approach is about immersing our clients in our world, our materials and processes, our vision and our ambition. There is no other automotive experience like it." Modifications mainly focus on the visual - ARES makes a point of not touching suspension, although it did recruit ex-Lotus engineering inspiration Wolf Zimmermann to head the engineering side. Think engine power tweaks and lightweighting.

You be the judge of whether it's a welcome return to the automotive industry for Bahar, but arguably it's a deserved one. His track record includes a stellar career at Red Bull and fast ascendancy at Ferrari, before tweaking the nose of Luca di Montezemolo then departing for Norfolk and chancing his luck at Lotus. It didn't work, but history will record what an amazing all-star opportunity it was (Swizz Beatz excepted). Just think what we'd be saying about Bahar today if the Lotus Esprit had launched and everything else had filtered through.

Indeed, given the cars he was looking to create, and what he knew from serving the ultra-demanding at Ferrari, maybe a Mayfair-based atelier for Lotus was part of his gameplan all along...