Emerging from the shadow of Gumpert has previously been a problem for Apollo. Its last unveiling, the Arrow, looked the part but was still based on an evolution of the same tubular steel frame that underpinned its famously ugly predecessor. The latest effort is a welcome departure from anything that's gone before though - and it could hardly be more ambitious.
The Intensa Emozione - teased last week - is a £2m hypercar limited to just 10 units. That's Mercedes-AMG Project One territory. But more intriguing than the price is the car's list of claimed ingredients: all-carbon fibre construction, 1250kg kerbweight, 1350kg of downforce at 186mph, 2.7 seconds to 62mph, 2g of lateral force - oh, and a 780hp naturally-aspirated 6.3-litre V12.
Its engine alone is a fascinating prospect: built by Italian firm Autotecnica Motori, and apparently capable of revving to 9,000rpm, it's said to produce 560lb ft of torque at 6,000rpm and is mated to a sequential six-speed Hewland gearbox.
The roofless tub around the V12 is made to look like a work of art by an Apollo computer rendering. Carbon fibre passenger cells are obviously nothing new but, because it has gone to the trouble of making the front and rear subframes out of the stuff too, Apollo claims a combined total of just 105kg - impressive when just the McLaren P1's tub weighed 90kg on its own. It is by virtue of this effort (and expenditure - the body parts are carbon as well) that the manufacturer can claim a kerbweight around 200kg lighter than a 570S.
The IE features race-derived pushrod suspension with adjustable anti-roll bars front and rear. There are also adjustable Bilstein dampers, as well as a four air jack pneumatic quick-lift system for use in the pit lane. This is handy because the car is unlikely to be road legal out of the box; your £2m also buying you access to an Apollo-sponsored Time Attack programme at Europe's 'most relevant' racing circuits.
Customers also get priority for the forthcoming Arrow; apparently still on the drawing board (in one form or another) and scheduled to launch in 2019. Although finding 10 buyers for the single batch of IEs will likely be the fledgling manufacturer's sole preoccupation for the foreseeable future.