Italdesign Kicks Off Bespoke Supercar Program With a $1.6 Million, 205-MPH Speed Machine

The VW Group subsidiary’s new limited-edition supercar shares an engine (and possibly more) with the Audi R8.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
Italdesign Kicks Off Bespoke Supercar Program With a $1.6 Million, 205-MPH Speed Machine
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With the world of limited-run and customized supercars seemingly growing every day, it's no surprise to see mainstream automakers try to push further into the lucrative market. The latest entrant: the VW Group's Italdesign division, which announced on Wednesday it will reveal five bespoke supercars at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Only five examples of the new Italdesign supercar, which doesn't appear to have a name yet—it's only referred to as the "special car" in the press release—will be made between now and the end of the year. Beneath that sleek carbon fiber body lies a carbon fiber and aluminum chassis and a 5.2-liter V-10 engine presumably sourced from either the Lamborghini Huracan or the Audi R8. That engine enables the car to blast from 0-60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds, according to the company, with a reported top speed of 205 mph. And as you'd expect for a super-exclusive car with a reported $1.6 million price tag, customers will be able to spec out their personal supercars with a wealth (pun intended) or options, including appearance and performance packages. (Hell, maybe they'll even be able to name it.)

This supercar is just the first step of Italdesign's big plans

These new supercars are just the start of the production plans (if you can call limited-run supercars "production vehicles") for the company, which, like Lamborghini, falls under Audi's umbrella in the VW Group corporate hierarchy. Under the Italdesign Automobile Speciali brand name, the company plans to unveil a series of new specialty cars on a regular basis. 

"We plan to launch a new one-off or ultra-low volume series every 18 to 24 months," Italdesign CEO Joerg Astalosch said to Automotive News Europe. "Ultra-low volume" cars, he said, will be made in up to 99 units; "one-offs" will number between one and nine examples. 

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