KTM X-Bow | PH Auction Block
Need a new summer sports car for the sunshine? Do we have just the vehicle
There’s never a great time, seemingly, to bring a new stripped-out sports car to market. By their very nature they are occasional playthings that aren’t very suitable for anything but having enormous fun; they can’t really be used every day, they definitely don’t like long journeys and their track-focused hardware makes them expensive. They require commitment.
Given the wider economic downturn, 2008 really wasn’t the time to launch a new car without a roof, but with a carbon tub and pushrod suspension. Just as the world was about to implode and every non-essential cut back on, KTM launched one of the least practical cars ever to have existed. The X-Bow was a wonderful toy, combining the Austrian company's expertise on two wheels with Audi mechanicals, but toys were not what anyone was going to buy in the late '00s. Well, certainly not as many people as would have been hoped for.
The X-Bow’s task, in Britain at least, was made all the more challenging by the fact that stripped-out sports cars is an automotive niche that this country excels at. Back then buyers could get the supercharged, Toyota-engined Elises and Exiges, a 9,000rpm Caterham R500 still existed, and the Ariel Atom was improving by the year. With that sort of homegrown talent available, the KTM would have had a tough time making an impact even in more favourable economic climes. With the world as it was back then, though, numbers were only ever going to be tiny. On 21 pages of HowManyLeft data for KTM, the X-Bow doesn’t exist.
So let’s be grateful that a few took the plunge, as it means cars like this incredible X-Bow exist to be auctioned a decade and a half later. (Let’s not forget, either, that KTM continued with four wheels, creating the amazing X-Bow GT XR.) As is so often the case, cars that looked pretty crazy not so long ago now seem absolutely out of this world. In KTM’s trademark Adrenaline Orange, with colour-matched wheels and what honestly look like teeth in the grille, the X-Bow is really like nothing else. Even by the standards of the genre, it’s totally bonkers. In the best way.
X-Bow power came from a 2.0-litre turbo four, originally with 240hp and later with 300hp - this one has the upgrade. Which ought to be plenty of power with less than 800kg, especially with the added interaction of a short-throw six-speed manual. This one also benefits from all the available factory carbon, four-point harnesses and two sets of tyres. It has been with its current keeper for a decade, which is a good sign - they’ll know absolutely everything about it. During that time it’s been used for a few hundred (presumably exhilarating) miles a year, so the current tally remains less than 12k. There’s a good amount of history to support the mileage, and a 2.0-litre four from the VW empire must surely be easier to maintain than a more exotic powertrain.
Just as when new, of course, the X-Bow won’t make a great deal of sense for a lot of journeys. But for those that it does suit, with the sun shining and no real destination in mind, it promises to be epic fun. Which is what driving should be all about. Bidding starts on Wednesday.
The X-BOW GT XR uses the exact same carbon tub and is hugely more expensive.
The X-BOW GT XR uses the exact same carbon tub and is hugely more expensive.
I have a 2008 supercharged Atom, which is lighter and faster but not as sophisticated as the Xbow and I suspect not as easy to drive fast either.
Turned out to be a brilliant call. I got one of the very first superlights ever built, collected it from the factory in Graz with one of my lads and drove it 1000 miles home to the Isle of Man via Oulton Park for a trackday. KTM honored the launch price we were quoted at LeMans, about £46K IIRC despite the retail price being about £15K higher by then. Top guys.
Here we are driving it home
It was beautifully engineered car and a joy to own despite a number of annoying niggles. I liked it so much that I bought another one a year later, this time a GT4 race car and did a lot of races in that car including British GT, Britcar, and GTCup. Fantastic times, lifetime memories and all that. Here we are at Spa.
Eventually the costs became prohibitive and the money pot was a bit low so they both had to go. Sad times.
However on a brighter note we have another one in the family now
and the good times are rolling again.Can’t be many people who have owned 3.
- if the optional windscreen can be retrofitted
- what parts availability and lead-time is like for KTM-only parts like body panels, chassis, tub etc. should you come in contact with a tyre barrier (and what the prices are like)
- what the ground clearance is like on that front splitter - more or less than 100mm?
I had a passenger ride in one once, on the road, not the circuit. It gripped hard to the point I felt that it might only be fun to drive on a circuit (and I wouldn’t want to bother with all the other inconveniences of driving it on the road if that were the case). It was considerably easier to get in and out of than say a Caterham, but much more exposed without a screen or doors. Looked cool and well built, but a track-only car for me (hence the question about parts availability).
Turned out to be a brilliant call. I got one of the very first superlights ever built, collected it from the factory in Graz with one of my lads and drove it 1000 miles home to the Isle of Man via Oulton Park for a trackday. KTM honored the launch price we were quoted at LeMans, about £46K IIRC despite the retail price being about £15K higher by then. Top guys.
Here we are driving it home
It was beautifully engineered car and a joy to own despite a number of annoying niggles. I liked it so much that I bought another one a year later, this time a GT4 race car and did a lot of races in that car including British GT, Britcar, and GTCup. Fantastic times, lifetime memories and all that. Here we are at Spa.
Eventually the costs became prohibitive and the money pot was a bit low so they both had to go. Sad times.
However on a brighter note we have another one in the family now
and the good times are rolling again.Can t be many people who have owned 3.
like the X-bow GT4
or go nuts with the X-bow GT
https://www.autoscout24.nl/lst/ktm?atype=C&cy=...
I have an Atom 4 which is said to be easier to drive than your 3 so that has to be taken into account.
For various reasons I have only had the Atom out for 7 weeks and have done only 1,300 miles in it thus far so my experience of it is limited - I spent quite some time adjusting the seat bolsters to make it just right for me, and have spent a lot of time playing around with the tyre pressures and Ohlin,s bound and rebound settings to optimise the car for the B roads that I use it on - I don t track my OWN cars.
For context I always have to compare any lightweight car with my previous Brooke 260RR - it was the prototype car with 260bhpCosworth Duratec in a 550kg shell.
That felt very fast but you never felt in control
The KTM is beautifully built and when you see and understand the technology and expertise and pedigree behind it , the X-BOW is a fantastic bargain - a Droptop Pagani Zonda ( both are all carbon with a bought in engine - and both were honed by Loris Bicocchi who who did the factory sign off on my Countach back in 1988 ) . It is so solid and just full of delights -Recaro seats, beautiful steering wheel and gear lever, astounding floating panel bodywork, etc, etc, etc. You can see where the money has gone.
The Atom - I still wonder why it costs so much - at least until I see that Arch built spaceframe chassis and rev that Honda engine. It is far less scary than I thought it was going to be. Both cars are far more controllable than the Brooke which was a real animal whose throttle response was always unpredictable ( I drove that car for about 10 years, covering about 11,000 miles , mostly in Europe and mostly in fun mode but it was safer to exploit any car,s performance back in those days). Both the KTM and The Atom allow you to meter out their performance. Acceleration wise the Atom is feels faster and is on paper , even if it s not that much faster in the real world.
I haven t pushed either car on track so can t really comment.
Sound wise the Atom 4 beats the KTM hands down
Ditto in cockpit buffeting wise , which was a real surprise. Having adjusted my seat bolsters I now have almost no buffeting or helmet lift in the Atom which is great
Braking in both is excellent and the suspension in both have both bound and rebound control so both can be fine tuned to your liking.
Top sped in both is irrelevant on public roads but it feels that the Atom will get to 70 faster
Both are works of art, to be enjoyed in ways other than simple driving .
The sounds from the Atom 4 are so much fun - it makes for a hilarious car, while the KTM is a serious car
The KTM was a technological marvel for its time , and it made hypercar chassis and body design technology available to the masses
I love my 4, but i just adore my X-BOW R
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