Gumpert Apollo S: Spotted

The supercar that could drive upside down and once tried to turn the market on its head...

Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH, the automotive brand that created the collection of vents and wings you see before you has had quite the patchy history. It all started well, with founder Roland Gumpert's knowledge helping Audi Motorsport dominate WRC stages in the 1980s, taking four World Rally Championship titles and winning 25 WRC events. With a resume littered with victories and Championships, he was approached by MTM founder Roland Meyer to assist in building a prototype supercar and securing the trust of Audi to sign off on the use of its engines for the project.

Within a few years, two mid-engined, rear-wheel drive prototypes were under construction, with a road-ready version of Mr Gumpert's car finally entering production in 2005. The Apollo was previewed in three states of tune, standard, Sport and Race - this model being a Sport tune, offered with 700hp from its 4.2-litre bi-turbo V8. Both Sport and Race models were fitted with carbon-fibre panels over a tubular steel frame weighing around 1,100kg and making for a three second 0-62mph sprint. The massive downforce generated by its ungainly design - it was said at the time to be capable of sticking to the ceiling of a tunnel at the right speed - meant it was capable, in the right hands, of setting a 7:11 lap at the Nurburgring - the quickest lap ever set by a production car at the time.

Despite that prowess, however, the Apollo was never the easiest car to drive. Plenty of videos show drivers getting it wrong, with this very car having an incident of its own at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Before its trip up the famous hill, it was Gumpert's press demonstrator, receiving lots of coverage in magazines, on TV and online. It was also upgraded to 2008 spec with a Carbon Apollo Race GT1 air box and the latest software updates increasing the power up to 720hp. Since its 'off' as the ad describes it, the Apollo S had been in storage before being recently recommissioned and put on the market.

Even though its product had plenty of positive reviews, the market proved too tough for Gumpert, and the company went into liquidation in 2013. It was eventually bought three years later by the Hong Kong consortium, which also owns De Tomaso, and is now aiming at reviving the brand with the Apollo IE.

If your pockets are deep enough to spend a quarter of a million pounds on a car, the usual suspects are of course all available for similar money - Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren et al. However, those may a be a little too mainstream to compare with the Gumpert. A bonkers machine which put function ahead of form years before McLaren's Senna caused a stir, the Apollo is certainly deserving of recognition and what better way to recognise it than to own one yourself?

SPECIFICATION - GUMPERT APOLLO SPORT

Engine: 4,163cc, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: sequential six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 700@6,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 675@4,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 2007
Recorded mileage: 6,000 miles
Price new: £275,000
Yours for: £235,000