Mockup of Arash Cars' AF10
Arash Farboud underlined his determination at the Motor Show to make the AF10 happen.
Speaking exclusively to PistonHeads yesterday, Farboud said that his company, Arash Cars, would have a rolling prototype of the £170,000 AF10 early next year. This picture shows a mockup and shouldn't be taken as representative of the finished article except as regards the shape. Farboud said however that the mockup has been wind tunnel tested so, for instance, the front spoiler between the wings adds significant downforce.
Commenting on the car's design, Farboud said that he expected people to make comparisons with the Ferrari Enzo but thought that this was no bad thing, given the huge price differential.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: "For me, the new AF10 fits alongside other supercar brands. The brief was simply this: if you're at a set of traffic lights and an Enzo, Carrera GT, Pagani Zonda, Koenigsegg and McLaren SLR all pull up, the AF10 should not look out of place.
"The design has been flavoured mainly by the Enzo as it is in my opinion the most dramatic car of the bunch, however our style has been maximised to flow more from front to rear rather than a split section as per Enzo. Unique features such as the side pods and wings should move the evolution away from the Enzo. Essentially I have chosen not to take the cabin forward as per Pagani and I have deliberately used a large cabin and doors as per McLaren F1, SLR and Enzo as it allows for easy ingress and egress. Dihedral doors are also a lot easier to manage wind and water ingress due the loss of frameless glass."
The carbon-fibre bodied sports car has a steel and carbon-fibre tub at its heart, and uses a 7.0-litre Corvette Z06 engine for motive power, mated to a six-speed Graziano transmission.
And Farboud has to be praised for his equally steely determination to conduct the development of the AF10 out in the open, telling everyone what's happening at every stage of the way. He aims to ensure he gets the best feedback -- you might call this an attempt at open forum car development, which would parallel similar and increasingly successful trends in the IT industry over recent years.
