Homegrown Spartan supercar enters production
Australian-made Ariel Atom rival goes from prototype to realityAustralia’s Spartan supercar has made the leap from prototype to production with first examples leaving the Sydney production line.
While it has existed in various guises for many years – including being originally motorcycle-engined – the Spartan production car was launched earlier this year at the inaugural Canberra Festival of Speed.
The two-seat track car boasts a tubular spaceframe chassis clad in carbon-fibre bodywork to keep weight to just 700kg, while power is provided by a supercharged (and completely rebuilt) 2.4-litre Honda engine producing at least 340kW, though up to 520kW is available for customers who are exceedingly brave.
Active dampers can work independently and react to the road surface in a handful of milliseconds, eliminating the need for anti-roll bars, while AP Racing supplies the brakes and Yokohama the semi-slick tyres.
The first customer car has gone to the UK, where the Spartan is road-legal and the demonstration vehicle has done the automotive media rounds to rave reviews, with the second about to leave the production line.
While not currently street-legal in Australia, Spartan is currently working through the homologation paperwork.
Despite being hand-built, the build process takes just four months to complete, though this depends on whether other cars are currently being completed.
The bad news is that once it is road-legal Down Under it will attract luxury car tax, which will swell the already-mighty $320,000 plus taxes price considerably.
However, even as a dedicated circuit car, the Spartan is likely to be the fastest thing at any given track day and the company has plans to prove that by setting various lap records driven by the man who did the suspension set-up, ex-Formula 3 racer and World Time Attack record-holder Barton Mawer.
Exactly what a 340kW/700kg mini-CanAm car is like to drive is something we hope to be able to tell you before the year is out. Watch this space.
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