It may have the most unoriginal name among all hypercar hopefuls – Inferno Exotic Car? Really? – but everything else about this demonic beast screams lunacy. And now, the people behind this menacing machine are all set to start building the Inferno later in the year with an eye towards launching the car in 2017.
Speaking with CarBuzz, Inferno marketing director Manuel Laguna laid out some very important details about the mysterious hypercar, including plans to fit it with a yet-to-be-named twin-turbo V-8 engine that will pack a mental 1,400 horsepower and 1,125 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers would allow the Inferno to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds to go with a top speed of 245 mph. In other words, the Inferno is being prepared to lock horns with the Bugatti Chiron, a goal that is as admirable as it is ambitious.
But the people behind the $2.1 million hypercar are undeterred about the pressure that comes with delivering on such a formidable challenge. Details on other elements of the car are still being kept under wraps, but Antonio Ferraioli, the project’s senior automotive designer, wasn’t shy about the company’s goal to create “the bad boy of the hypercar world.” Judging by how intentionally exaggerated the car’s overall design is, it would seem that the objective has been met in one aspect.
On another aspect, the Inferno is also being developed with an important eye on making it one of the safest exotics on the market. Ironic as that may be given the devilish appearance of the car, CEO Alvaro Gutierrez Ochoa noted that the exotic will use an exclusive zinc-aluminum-silver alloy body that can “absorb impacts by stretching up to 100 times its original size without losing its properties.” Gutierrez even compared it to a “level 4 armored vehicle” that weighs less than 1,200 kg, or 2,645 pounds.
Considering how eye-popping some of these details are, there’s no denying that the Inferno Exotic Car has caught the attention of a lot of people. Eight of the 11 first edition models are reportedly spoken for, and as more details about the hypercar are revealed, expect the spotlight to get bigger on the development of the Inferno Exotic Car. Hopefully, that spotlight gets big enough that the company decides to give it a more creative name than “Exotic Car.”
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Why it matters
On the surface, the Inferno Exotic Car promises to be one of the raunchiest hypercars to enter the business in quite some time. The design is ridiculous in every measure, although I’m still not quite sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The promised technologies are also impressive, as is the output that’s being touted for the car. 1,400 horsepower is serious business, folks. Even the $2.1 million price tag fits right into what a kind of car like this could command in a busier than ever supercar market.
But here’s the thing. This isn’t the first time that a niche company has made promises of building the next great supercar. Some have succeeded in getting their products out, but for every one of the that has done that, there are numerous that have failed. I’m not saying that Inferno is going to fail, nor am I wishing for that to happen. But with startups, it’s always best to tread carefully, or at least take all these details with a speck of skepticism until the products are officially out on the road.
One thing I can tell you is that having all these details under wraps doesn’t inspire the same amount of confidence compared to every detail being out in the open. The company hasn’t even said anything about the size of the V-8 or where it’s coming from. Is it sourced from an automaker or is Inferno building one itself? The same goes for the chassis components, which according to CarBuzz, are sourced from “world-renowned brands.” Care to elaborate on that, Inferno?
Truth be told, I hope that the Inferno Exotic Car comes to fruition down the road. It’s the kind of car that people will undeniably gravitate to if the final product looks and performs as the automaker has promised. But I’m not going to go to far and say that it’s a done deal until I learn more about what’s going into the car and who are the ones helping Inferno build it. It’s a fair assessment given how volatile it is for a startup to build a supercar with a seven-figure price tag. That’s nothing against Inferno; that’s just past history making a strong case for itself.