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$110k performance bargain, TT Porsche V8 engine 617hp

2.2K views 35 replies 28 participants last post by  !^3  
#1 ·
Powered by a twin-turbo Porsche V8 cranking out 617 horsepower

0-to-60 miles-per hour time of well under 4 seconds

up to 400 km/h (249 mph)














"Another day, another supercar. This time, our quarry comes from South Africa, a country perhaps better known to car people for building Noble trackday specials (now pronounced "Rossion") and modern-day Cobras and Ford GTs.

This latest project is the brainchild of Chris Barnard, a designer who happens to have a passion for endurance racing. The exotic is designed, sourced and built entirely in South Africa. It's simply called the Barnard and it should be quite the hypercar. Built on a high-tech steel monocoque, it looks like a Le Mans racecar, which is pretty much what it is. The chassis would probably look familiar to anyone who has seen the underside of a Porsche 962 and the bodywork looks like it's straight off the Mulsanne. Heck, it could probably compete in the next 24.

The development car is powered by a twin-turbo Porsche V8 cranking out 617 horsepower. That should be good for a 0-to-60 miles-per hour time of well under 4 seconds, with a top speed north of 300 km/h (186 mph), although the platform is said to be solid all the way up to 400 km/h (249 mph). Less road car than race car, the Barnard has a composite body with racing-derived aero trickery. The high-tech Domex and Docoal steels used in the construction are light and strong, but easier to shape as well, allowing the Barnard to be personalized to a higher degree than many other contemporary supercars. Expect spectacular performance, but don't expect power steering, traction control, ABS brakes or power windows. Deliveries are expected to start by the middle of the year, with prices starting around $110,000, which could be something of a bargain if the Barnard lives up to its billing."
 
#8 ·
It's a Pagani Mclaren Batmobile.
 
#13 ·
I think they can fit a few more gauges in there.
 
#19 ·
Yea, not bad for the price at all. But why not power steering?
 
#21 ·
Car looks like it'd be at home in LeMans, as stated. If it looks like it does in the pictures, or better, and it performs as they say, it's the bargain of the century. But i agree, black on black shows no detail.
 
#25 ·
I like it, especially for the price:agreed:
 
#32 ·
I certainly don't not like it...I would expect some kind of sequential or paddle shifting in a car like this. Looks like a semi-truck shifter.
So you are saying that you DO like it?:run:
 
#35 ·
Positive. Your right, they haven't made them since like 1993 or 94 and Porsche doesn't service them but they do have a pretty decent cult following of after market service.

I used to be in love with that damned car. I've test driven several but the cost of repair has always given it the axe. It is the only sports car in history to win European Car of the Year and was also voted into the top 3 Porsche's ever built.

Back in 1987 when they upped the power and changed the body style one of the US car mags (Car and Driver I think) did a European sports car comparison with the Ferrari Testarossa, the Lambo Countach, the Lotus Esprit and the 928 S4. It was the slowest to 60 but 3rd through the quarter and second in top speed to the Ferrari. When they took them to the road track though it was a slaughter. The 928 destroyed them. The article said it wasn't even a comparison at that point. The 928 was so "unfazed" by the track that at one point they were doing laps with the stereo blasting just to make it interesting but they said it was kind of sacreligious not being able to hear that V8 rumble. My favorite quotes from the article is by one of the test drivers, "the 928's ability to corner is beyond my threshold of fear".

S.
 
#31 ·
The 928 motor is badass, but it's a well known fact that when something goes wrong with a 928, you'll need to take a loan to fix it! That's one reason why used 928s are dirt cheap.

There have been a lot of track day specials that are barely usable street cars coming out lately. I doubt this one is as well sorted overall as a Nobel, but it does has impressive stats on paper at least.