Something Wicked This Way Comes: Arash AF-10 speeds towards production
Arash AF-10 – Click above for image gallery
It's been a long time coming, but the Arash AF-10 is finally here. Well, almost. Development of the latest British cottage-industry supercar is still being carried out, but after years of following the story, details and photos of the exclusive exotic have finally bubbled to the surface.
The first thing you need to know is that the AF-10 is made almost entirely of carbon fiber, from the chassis to the bodywork. Crafting a car from the time-consuming and expensive material invariably comes at a price, and the Arash is slated to sell for £320,000 ($535,000). Nestled in the lightweight frame is none other than the LS7 engine from the Corvette Z06 – all seven liters of it – tuned by Arash to produce 550 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque and driving through a six-speed Graziano gearbox.
That's just the start, though, as Arash is also said to be developing a supercharged version – spooled up in house as opposed to shoehorning in the ZR1's engine – for 800 horsepower, to be followed an even more powerful 1000-horse version. The chassis rides on a double-wishbone suspension mounted to 19-inch alloys up front and 20s in the rear, riding on Michelin Pilot rubber, with eight-piston calipers up front and six-pots in the rear gripping ventilated ceramic brake discs. With all that kit and the half-a-million-dollar price tag, we won't expect to see many out on the road, but that's just as well: Arash is apparently capping production at 70 units over the next five years.
Unfortunately only low-resolution images of the obviously Ferrari Enzo-influenced design are available at this time, but you can check 'em out in the gallery below.
Gallery: Arash AF-10
[Source: Arash via CAR]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
KDUBZ 3:24PM (11/11/2009)
Ferrari Enzo???
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auto.design 3:42PM (11/11/2009)
....had it's way with the Lotus Evora (front end)
klitorisaurus 1:48AM (11/12/2009)
More like a Chinese Enzo!
Vetmstr 3:25PM (11/11/2009)
I can see Ferrari filing that lawsuit write now.
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TheCheat 3:32PM (11/11/2009)
Overall, I like. That said, there's something kinda off about it.
As far as I can tell, it's 2 things, the width between the side glass and actual side of the car, and the other is something about the front...possibly overhang length? Seems pretty big to me.
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ripiopower 3:37PM (11/11/2009)
Im with you TheCheat'' and how about the $500,000 asking price and it has a vette engine -- I thought the Lexus LFA was expensive -- I know I see it like a bargain''
and yes is a copy of a enzo''
Tony 3:40PM (11/11/2009)
Isn't the reason that this Arash fellow is building this vehicle due to the fact that he was denied a Ferrari Enzo? if so then I can see why the vehicles are so similiar.
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dukeisduke 3:41PM (11/11/2009)
I see arash of lawsuits coming.
/sorry
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Aloysius Vampa 3:41PM (11/11/2009)
Your death car has arrived.
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Tony 3:45PM (11/11/2009)
I salute him for sticking it to Ferrari because if I was denied a Enzo(if I could afford one...) but 50 cent wasn't then I would be terribly upset.
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jonathan.chung1 3:45PM (11/11/2009)
I see an Evora, too.
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mikhalian 3:57PM (11/11/2009)
That may be the longest front overhang since the invention of the auto.
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innerlogik 4:00PM (11/11/2009)
Holy enzo
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nissanGTR4ever 5:31PM (11/11/2009)
why is it that all these unknown supercars have all the same rear end? and ugly too (talking about the rear)
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imoore 4:20PM (11/11/2009)
The Factory 5 GTM looks better than this. Maybe it's just me. Plus, it's way cheaper.
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larry raines 4:47PM (11/11/2009)
I feel a closer comparison is the RCR Superlight SLC
http://www.superlitecars.com/
Chassis are pretty much made one at a time - and it does not use a bunch of Vette parts, except the motor if you want.
jcar302 4:37PM (11/11/2009)
70 of these over the next 5 years at 535,000?
Doesn't sound all that profitable. If you can only manage to build 14 a year, i'll assume each car is very labor intensive.
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Scot Berner 4:55PM (11/11/2009)
Something wicked... was the tagline for the Lexus GS400, you guys had me thinking that this was Lexus powered or something.
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JSams4131 5:28PM (11/11/2009)
Oh man and people hate on Toyota for being "slab-sided", look at picture # 7 in the gallery
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a-tex 5:50PM (11/11/2009)
$535,000 seems really steep for this glorified kit car. The notion that carbon fiber is a “time-consuming and expensive material” is not really true anymore, when market prices are around $20/lb. And LS7 crate engines are, what, around $15k? Which they don’t have to engineer much, just unpack from the crate and bolt it in.
Here’s an idea – for that kind of money, just go buy 2 McLaren MP4-12C’s from a real exotic car company.
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