Longbow Speedster achieves 'demonstrator' phase
Startup has gone from rendering to real-world in six months - and claims first year of production is sold out
The brace of Longbow ‘Featherweight Electric Vehicles’, the Speedster and Roadster, could hardly have arrived at a more interesting time. Announced just this March, they promised everything that the only other EV sports car out there, the MG Cyberster, couldn’t hope to match: lightweight, relatively low power, drop-top thrills. Both variants would weigh under a tonne, with more than 300 hp and a WLTP range of 275 miles. Designed, engineered and built in Britain, the Longbows seemed like a very modern, very relevant pair of sports cars.
It was all mighty encouraging, especially with prices well under £100,000, even if there was the inevitable wariness that comes with a new British sports car maker. We’ve seen plenty come and go, after all. But in the months since March, when Porsche has flip-flopped on its EV sports car strategy and Ferrari has previewed the guts of another two-tonne electric whopper, Longbow has been pressing ahead with making its lightweight EV sports car a reality.
Well, making it three-dimensional, at any rate. What you’re looking at is the Longbow Speedster ‘Aesthetic Dynamic demonstrator’, a phrase that suggests the car is doing a lot more work stylistically than actually moving about the place. Regardless, it looks like nothing else on the road, battery-powered or otherwise. Which is rather the point of an EV being marketed for its multiple points of difference.
To our eyes, it evokes the classic front-engined, rear-drive roadsters with its silhouette, if inevitably a bit chunkier thanks to the packaging requirements of its batteries. The Speedster remains pleasingly compact, too, and while it possesses the kind of smart visual details that are likely to appeal to its intended audience, its standout feature is still the idea that you might be able to have it all for £84,995.
Longbow reckons the turnaround has been so swift because its ‘Speed of Lightness’ mantra also underpins their development processes. ‘This was not an exercise in corner-cutting’, they say, ‘it was an ambitious project to condense, enhance, and accelerate every step of the process. It means that first customer Speedster deliveries are still scheduled for next year, with the £64,995 roofed Roadster to follow. Indeed, Longbow says the first year’s allocation of limited edition Speedsters is spoken for, though doesn’t say how many cars that actually is.
Daniel Davey, Longbow co-founder and CEO at Longbow, said: “Speedster seems to have struck a chord with enthusiasts. It’s a timeless blueprint with a twist, which was exactly what the market was missing… While Speedster defies convention, so too has our journey to get here - we’ve managed to deliver a Dynamic Demonstrator in just six months..” Assuming his optimism is a contagious quality at the fledgling firm, it ought to mean that the finished production isn’t too far behind. Fingers crossed, eh?
ETA I really hope they reconsider those wheels, but otherwise it looks pretty good considering the tech.
I find this car fascinating. I don't really have any desire for an electric sports car, but at least this sort of thing shows that it's going to be possible to produce one which doesn't weight 200kg+. If this is, say, 1000kg, it should be possible to produce a version with doors and a windscreen and "get me home" hood at something like 1100kg, making it an interesting modern-day take on something like an Elise.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
My fear is it's because they've gone for below-seat batteries rather than 'mid-engine' like Porsche or Alpine look to be doing. Frustrating, given that one of the main advantages of a sports car is a low hip point.
Renault Sport Spyder (they eventually fitted a windscreen but the rest of the weather gear was ghastly. Lotus Elise more practical.)
KTM X-bow (they eventually did a GT version with a windscreen and wobbly weather gear. Company in trouble.)
Zenos (designed roofless, they eventually came up with a windscreen of sorts. Didn't save the company.)
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff