It was soft enough to absorb most bumps and potholes, but still stiff enough to allow precise turn-in. The suspension on our car was set up more for a real road, too, which was nice. Accelerating out of a corner, for instance, the rear comes out a little, then the diff locks a little thunkishly, then the car stays right in line as you ease more onto the throttle. You can swing the rear end around - stably and predictably - like some sort of dune buggy or maybe a Porsche rally car. The result is a rather rear-heavy 40/60 weight bias which you feel when you push the car in corners. “All my customers kept asking about a V8 just like their Corvettes or Vipers (which has a V10 but you know what I mean),” Mapleton said. A powertrain like this weighs about 250 pounds more than a typical four-cylinder unit, but it was a tradeoff worth trading off. Most cars like this - Caterhams, Ariel Atoms - have four-cylinder engines, but Drakan customers kept demanding a V8, so that’s what they got. In the Drakan it works out to an amazing 4.7 pounds per hp, good for a claimed, and undoubted, 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 165 mph. That’s in a car that weighs 1,300 pounds less than the C6 Corvette that shared the same engine. The 6.2-liter GM Performance Parts LS3 E-Rod makes 430 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque. The engine is pretty much amazing in this car. You get used to it quickly and start to really like it after only a short drive. Brakes are unboosted, too, but give similarly excellent feel. Since the steering is completely unboosted, it’s pretty heavy at slow speeds but lightens up once you get underway. The forward seat positioning really makes it feel like a race car. Even though the hip point is about amidships, you feel like you’re sitting farther forward in the Spyder than you do in the Ariel Atom or BAC Mono. Immediately you can tell this is a very well-sorted car. Then just pop the wheel back on, fire the big V8 and you’re off. Mapleton had earlier adjusted the pedals to fit our ungainly leg length (it’s always a good sign when a carmaker asks for your inseam). You remove the steering wheel, step in over the frame, slide down into the seat and - fwooomp! - you’re in place for the six-point belt. Sadly, their numbers didn’t make them an automotive Michael Jackson thus they lie deep in the archives of history books.After one day in the Drakan (on great roads), we can say it drives every bit as well as its spec sheet promises. Cross the border to Europe, and there were classics that had a cult following, followed by a Slovenian supercar that was nothing short of a masterpiece. That’s where most of the cars featured on this list came from.įor most American productions, they were about breaking the barriers of speed by hand-building hypercars to even launching the first-ever minivan. New niches were opening up and everyone was trying to see who could be King in the new segments. This has opened up the field to newcomers who are trying to grab a piece of the electrification and tech pie that is being served at every corner.īut if you go a just a few years back, there was a similar time when new vehicles and auto manufacturers were flooding the market. We are slowly ushering in a new age of new power, new technology, and a new demand by customers who want something modern and sustainable. The car industry is buzzing with activity.
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