If the Caterham is too geeky for you, and the Morgan too old-fashioned, a Dutch company called Donkervoort has made a new classic British sports car that might float your boat.
The Donkervoort GTO is an insane car. You just need to take a look at that vicious but kinda funny face to realize it could only come from a country where drugs are legal!
The GTO is a kind of tougher, more extravagant version of the GT powered by the five cylinder 340 hp 2.5 TFSI Audi motor which can be boosted to 400 hp at the touch of a cool button on the dashboard. It weighs around 700 kilos and that means it is pretty darn fast.
It uses some very fancy aerospace technologies in lightweight materials. For instance it has a steel tubular frame with large carbon composite panels stuck to it with glue. The carriage work also consists completely of carbon composite with as unique invention a one piece door (including integrated hinges), which can withstand a sideways blow of about 1500 kilos and of which the hinges can withstand a force of more than 1100 kilos, while weighing no more than 980 gramms.
This will be a rare and bespoke sportscar, so its price of between € 100,000 and € 150,000 is not actually bad. But it has the same problem every other open-wheeled drop-top sports car has. It is really embarrassing to be seen in one of these in public.
The first ‘regular’ versions are expected on the European roads starting in 2013.
