GTO Engineering is working on a new project vehicle, codenamed “Moderna”. The automaker has already let a few details about the fresh model slip out.
The new car will be a sub-1,000-kilogram (2,204-pound) model that celebrates “the best of the Sixties”. It will include modern and motorsport-derived engineering and will be created by hand under the GTO Engineering name.
With the car, GTO Engineering looks to “push the boundaries of modern craftsmanship, with new materials and using the learnings the team has had building and maintaining a range of road- and race-oriented Ferraris since 1991.”
The rear of the car blends vintage GTO design with modern Rolls-Royce aesthetics.Photo courtesy of GTO Engineering
Though it has an eye to the past, the new car will be “highly innovative” and feature a tubular steel chassis with a lightweight, high-strength aluminum subframe. Carbon fiber will be used for the car’s shell – a first for the company – and be made of F1-type spec carbon fibers. The car’s doors and hood will be made of aluminum.
Its double bubble roof and functional venting on the hood and arches help the car maintain its vintage character. while the front headlights and spotlights, rear lights ,and exhausts are modernized with updated electrics and internals.
The engineering team promises that the car will have an independent all-around suspension, large diameter wheels, and lightweight brakes.
“It’s exciting to finally talk about our new project – a car that we’ve been discussing, sketching, specifying and honing for some time. Now it’s in development and we’re working alongside some incredible technical partners, we’re ready to lift the cover off the design renderings and initial sketches and explain the fundamentals of what makes this new car tick,” said GTO Engineering Managing Director Mark Lyon.
“We’ve learnt from building the 250 SWB Revival, and working on a range of Ferraris, that a car’s weight and engine are two of the key ingredients to make a good sports car. So, we knew that this car should be under a tonne and powered by a quad-cam V12 – an engine format we are familiar with and developing in-house.
“To accomplish the desired light weight, carbon fibre will be used, which obviously wasn’t available in the Sixties but a composite we will utilise alongside other materials. For example, the doors and bonnet feel and ‘weight’ when you open them, was something we knew we wanted to keep and that’s why they’ll be made in aluminum – they’ll be lightweight but still give that ‘reassuring’ close and feel of a classic when the driver or passenger gets in and out, as well as opening and closing the bonnet.”
Each model will be personal and customizable to the owner, including paint, trim and accessory options offered, alongside the option to adjust major components such as suspension and gearbox changes.
