Collezione Martini Kimera EVO38s get 640hp
To nobody's surprise, the first Martini Kimera was a hit - here are the new four-wheel-drive ones
No, you aren’t going mad - there has been something like this before from Kimera Automobili. Its original creation, the epic EVO37, spawned a Martini liveried edition three years ago almost to the day. Such was the fervour that surrounded that limited production run, it would have been daft for Kimera (and Martini) not to seize a similar opportunity. So what you’re looking at here is the four-wheel drive version of the Martini missile: the Kimera Automobili EVO38 Collezione Martini.
The 38, as a reminder, was introduced in 2024, delivering a driven front axle to the EVO37 as well as overhauling the chassis and installing a mild hybrid update to the twincharged engine. There were only 38 made and, in truth, you would have let Kimera off simply painting a few extra in these hugely evocative liveries and being done with it. The EVO38 was already a formidable package by all accounts, and there’s too much glory associated with Lancia and this particular tricolour for it not to work on a reimagined 037. As Kimera itself puts it: ‘No other brand in the world has crossed the boundary between legendary motorsport and the dolce vita with quite the same effortlessness, that singular blend of glamour, adrenaline and refinement.’ Nobody actually cares what Martini tastes like, because the stripes look really cool on race cars.
Just doing things for aesthetics isn’t really the Kimera way, though, so this is an updated EVO38 as well as offering up a stunning new livery. There’s now 640hp from the 2.1-litre four-cylinder (how’s that for a specific output) if running on E85, another new development for Kimera. Power has also been boosted by a supplementary cooling system for the intercoolers, quite literally spraying them with cold water ‘under peak load conditions’ to keep intake temps down. Maximum revs is now 500rpm higher, at 8,200rpm, and torque is increased by 22 per cent - ‘approaching 700Nm’ is the official line, or close to 516lb ft. All more than enough for a 1,100kg sports car, with that kerbweight apparently ‘shaved even further’ for the Collezione Martini cars.
Additional changes for these new 38s included a front end ‘sharper and more decisive than ever’ thanks to new air intakes and dampers that are visible from the outside. Just in case the paint didn’t get the point across. The engine itself can also now be peered at by admirers without having to remove anything.
A special car made even more so then. And while the old Martini Edition was exclusively Stormtrooper spec, there’ll be a lot more variety for the Collezione Martini machines. These are nothing less than ‘a collection of chromatic interpretations of the EVO38, each inspired by the visual language of the Martini brand, each with its own soul, its own character, its own light’. So as well as the Pearl White, Vermouth Red and Dry Green seen here, more are to follow through 2026. How many exactly remains to be seen, though given that Kimera is talking about ‘vanishingly limited numbers’ - and that some colourways might be almost unique - there’s clearly going to be very few. Less than 38, for sure. With just a handful left to be secured, apparently, because who wouldn’t want to turn up to the track resort in one of these?
There’s more coming from Kimera, too, with the long-awaited K39 officially confirmed for a Villa D’Este debut on May 15th. No more restomods or reimagined rally cars; what’s coming is a ‘true hypercar… that elevates Kimera definitively to the status of an Italian automotive brand in the fullest sense of the term.’ Wow. It’s going to Pikes Peak in the summer, it’s going to evoke the Group 5 Montecarlo Turbo of the early '80s, and there’s going to be a road version. Probably it’s going to look great with some Martini stripes, too. Bring it on!
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