The Salaff C2 turned a lot of heads at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and for good reason as the model is the work of none other than Carlos Salaff, the American auto designer who’s responsible for designing the Mazda3, Mazda MX-5, and the Mazda Nagare and Mazda Furai concept vehicles. Years of working for a number of established automakers led Salaff to create his own supercar company. The first product to roll out of this new niche firm is the Salaff C2.

The Salaff C2 is based on a Lamborghini Gallardo, and certain sections of the car keep the design spirit of one of Lambo’s most popular models. But make no mistake, the Salaff C2 is its own car; it’s the brainchild of Carlos Salaff, who cut his teeth working for some of the biggest automakers in the world, most notably Mazda.

Now that Salaff is on his own, he’s venturing into the wild and oftentimes perilous world of niche car-making with a model that’s designed to grab attention and dressed from front to end with all sorts of bespoke goodness.

At the very least, the C2 is a head-turner. It’s based on the Gallardo, sure, but you can tell that Salaff culled design inspiration from other models, too, including the Peugeot 905, Porsche 917, and the Ferrari 330 P4. It’s hard to notice at first, too, but the C2’s headlights are incorporated into the front fenders, a design we often see on LMP1 race cars. That layout opens up a lot of space in the front and Salaff used all of it to design a fascia that features a V-shaped hood, a gaping-wide front grille, and a lot of gold-painted accents.

The side profile of the C2 is just as stunning. The shape is far edgier than the Gallardo, defined largely by the abundance of intakes and outlets that channel air through and around the supercar. The C2 also features futuristic-looking side mirrors and a set of posh black wheels.

As intriguing as the side section of the C2 is, it has nothing on the rear end. The massive engine cover has a honeycomb-like design, and apart from that and the long taillight that extends the full width of the car, there are very little aesthetics on this section. I suppose you can count the two exhaust outlets, but this section of the C2 almost feels like a clash of futuristic design and bare minimalism. I don’t know what to make of it yet.

If you’re interested in purchasing a C2, you’re going to have to bring Salaff a number of items, none more important than a donor Lamborghini Gallardo. Once you’d done that, you can choose to have the body made from either carbon fiber or hand-beaten aluminum. There’s no price yet for new niche supercar, but don’t expect it to come cheap.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo.

Read more Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance news.