Tuesday 3rd June 2003

Farboud

Mockup on show at MotorExpo

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Farboud are working hard on their new road car but remain some way off production. At the Docklands MotorExpo a mock up was present showing how the final car should look.

For a brand new supercar, it's got all the right ingredients. The styling is quite contemporary yet obviously supercar in its intent. Styling is a delicate thing and Farboud have achieved great things with this car which really does look stunning. Plenty of the right influences have been used but they've still succeeded in creating a unique, modern and beautiful car.

Power will be from a twin turbo V6 based loosely on an Audi unit (i.e. the block remains). Performance should be brisk!

Development continues at their Norfolk base with the prototype car still doing extensive testing as the work is done on productionising the car.

It looks like we'll have to wait another few months for a fully fitted prototype with full interior and trim. We'd guess that production cars are still twelve months away at this stage. When Farboud reach production they will have produced a welcome addition to the supercar world.

[d_drinks]

Saw this car as it looks at the moment at the AutoSport show in Jan this year, the car does look fantastic and seems to have everything needed to take on the likes of Ascarri, Ferrari etc. oh and the guy had manged to have in attendance 8 of the most stunning women alive on the stand in Jan shame that they are missing from the MotorExpo show

[v8thunder]

"Development continues at their Norfolk base..."
Is this whole 'Farboud' thing just disguising the new Esprit?

[sagalout]

Hhmmmm, looking at it, it could be. Faroud's not an anagram of something is it?

[superlightr]

Looks like the proposed Lotus M250 - which is good.

[RoadRunner]

This is crap compared to the original concept of 600bhp road going GT1 car for 85k. This is watered down and overpriced. 360 modena over this anyday.

[kkkaty]

Price it against a TVR Tuscan S and I think they will do just fine. Make a LHD/RHD car, sell it all over the world, too.
I hope they engineered the car for the global marketplace...

[RoadRunner]

I read before the price is going to be £160k! Errr, Hello McFly.

[michael_JCWS]

£50k Noble/TVR compition maybe. £160K Ferrari 575/Murcilago compition, I don't think so

[FourWheelDrift]

sagalout said: Hhmmmm, looking at it, it could be. Faroud's not an anagram of something is it?

Afro Dub ........Caribbean Volkswagon???????

[tuscan_s]

The back end is very Porsche GT and the front is GT40.

[jamesc]

What happened to the original car? Saw the launch of the 1st car; then saw the 2nd car launched! Also saw the AS ONE launched and read all about the "Lea Francis" launch in the 1960s!

[jamesc]

superlightr said: Looks like the proposed Lotus M250 - which is good.

Did Lotus sell the design of the M250?

[p7ulg]

Saw there stand at the Autosport show in 2002 .First car was just a blatant copy of the Porsche GT1 and latest car looks like McLaren F1 meets Ferrari 360.Will these be another small wannabe supercar manufacturer,where a car never materialises.At the end of the day who is going to spend a substantial amount of money on an unknown and unproven car.Seemed to me at the autosport show it was just blondes,champagne and living the dream.

[hedgerley]

The chief designer is Keith Lane. He is ex-Lotus where his final project was the M250. I guess he thought if Lotus won't build this thing he'd go to someone who would. Check out his comments about his last year at Lotus on [url]www.farboud.com[/url]

It all looks pretty solid to me. Arash Farboud is already a successful and wealthy business man despite his tender age (check out his interview in Evo) and he has signed up some very experienced guys to build and test this thing, as well investing several million pounds in a new factory next door to Snetterton which should be up and running in July. Commercial launch isn't expected until August this year. Why not give the guy a chance before writing him off?

[danmangt40]

I think we all should be applauding the farboud GTS. They couldn't build the original GT the way they wanted because Porsche pretty much owned the rights to the look of the car and were going to sue. Check out evo fromn 2-3 months ago, if any of you have a copy. Also, some of you scoffing the price have made the mistake of taking the simple, clean, not OTT look of the car and mistaken it for something like a noble M12, exige, or something along that level of the mainstream. Make no mistake, this car's competitors are murcielagos, Saleen S7's, Ascari's, the Enzo and Carrera GT. They're meeting lower weight targets than all of the above supercars, and at the time of reading the evo article, they were suggesting a reliable 560 hp. I've heard the goal for production is 600 hp. If I have 160k in my pocket right when they go on sale, I'll be flat broke in the driver's seat of my new GTS. no doubt.

[danmangt40]

ok, I take that back. If I only had 160k (pounds), I'd be driving a new viper SRT10(an assload less in dollars than in pounds, I have no idea why you UK-ers have to pay so much for cars), while working on importing a noble M12GT0-3R, and saving the rest for the upcoming M5 with the 5+L V10.

[clubsport]

The proportions are spot on,easily the star car of Motorexpo.Clearly the price is the major factor determining it's success.If only it were the new Esprit priced at £50K...my order would be in.

[p7ulg]

[quote

It all looks pretty solid to me. Arash Farboud is already a successful and wealthy business man despite his tender age (check out his interview in Evo) and he has signed up some very experienced guys to build and test this thing, as well investing several million pounds in a new factory next door to Snetterton which should be up and running in July. Commercial launch isn't expected until August this year. Why not give the guy a chance before writing him off?

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Think you will find that he actually comes from a wealthy family.My observations were that there appeared to be a lot of "top show" and little substance.I might be paraphrasing here but "How do you make a small fortune building sportscars ? Start with a large one!

[jamesc]

Arash Farboud is decent guy; but I am afraid this is money down the drain. There are too many small car makers chasing the same market. The only way to make money on this one; is to build one and sell it to the Sultan of Bruni!

James

[v8thunder]

Reminds me a lot of the Jaguar XJR15