First Aussie supercar hits roadblock

The Joss JP1 supercar has been spruiked as Australia's first super car for more than 10 years – ever since its inception in 2004.

It's been drivable in videogames such as Project Gotham Racing on the Xbox; there have been teasers and previews and a plan to reveal the vehicle at the 2016 Targa Tasmania tarmac rally.

Late last year the company signed a deal with The Hatzimihail Group, which was to invest $35 million to fast-track the car's production.

But the Joss JP1's prolonged gestation appears set to continue after its primary investor pulled out of the deal.

A short statement was released by Joss Developments, which reads:

"Australian supercar manufacturer Joss Developments Pty Ltd today announced that it is no longer involved with The Hatzimihail Group. This decision was difficult, but necessary."

There is still drive within the company to develop the Joss SP1 supercar and Joss Developments has outlined its intention to keep developing the car, as it seeks new funding to keep the project alive.

In August 2014 Joss Developments initiated a kickstarter campaign to raise $500,000 via crowd-sourcing to fund development but it failed to reach its target.

The JP1 supercar itself is intended to be a 340km/h aerodynamic missile, to rival the fastest vehicle from marques like Ferrari, McLaren and Pagani, while simultaneously putting Australia on the super car map.

Founder and Technical Director Matt Thomas' strategy involves not only tackling Targa Tasmania, but also the Nurburgring.

The mid-engined, rear-drive JP1's performance targets include a kerb weight of 900kg, a top speed of 340km/h and a 0-100km/h time of 2.6 seconds.

Propelled by a German-sourced 5.0-litre quad-cam V8 belting out roughly 440kW of power and 560Nm of torque, the supercar's planned launch date of late 2015, early 2016 may be difficult to achieve until new funding has been sought.