Teased

Ermini set to present Seiottosei barchetta in Geneva

Ermini is a sports-car maker out of Florence, Italy that the world hasn't heard much from for half a century, until news of a possible Barchetta Sport roadster cropped up last year. Then, we'd speculated that the Guilio Cappellini-penned car might eventually hit the road with a small-displacement, high-output powerplant, and a very low curb weight.

It seems that Ermini is poised to make good on its promises at this year's Geneva Motor Show with a concept car called Seiottosei. What's more, we now have some specs to go with one teaser image (above) of the upcoming car.

Roughly according to plan, the Seiottosei will use a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from Renault (hilariously dubbed "Renault F4RT RS"), making roughly 315 horsepower (320 cv) to push around the light, 1,512-pound aluminum and carbon bodywork. That combination will be good for a theoretical top speed of 168 miles per hour (limited, according to Ermini) and a 0-62 mile-per-hour run of less than 3.5 seconds.

Find a bit more technical information, and a lot of marketing department color, in the press release and data table below. Expect full coverage of the car when we hit Geneva in March, as well.

Show full PR text
ERMINI: COMPANY PROFILE.
Few existing sports car producers can match the intense, albeit brief, history of the Ermini brand.
In the post-war years, the Florentine brand fittingly represented the "prototype" of the
Italian sports car – nimble and pacy cars with refined engines, often of low or medium power, with aggressive and intriguing profiles. Between 1946 and 1955, Ermini built and powered around 40 automobiles, all sports cars that rivalled, like Osca and Cisitalia, the more high-profile and powerful Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche and Mercedes models, sometimes, quite incredibly, even managing to beat them.

On the legendary streets of the Mille Miglia, as well as those of the Targa Florio, the Florentine automaker wrote some of the most glorious and unforgettable chapters in that period of Italian and international motor sports.

In just over ten years Ermini or Ermini-powered cars made over 600 appearances in domestic and international races.

There were many prestigious victories, both in terms of class (such as Targa Florio 1950/1953, Mugello in 1955, the Giro di Sicilia 1952, the Coppa d'oro delle Dolomiti 1949, and the Italian road racing championships of 1950), and outright (such as the Coppa della Toscana in 1949).

The specific sporting nature of the Ermini brand is demonstrated by the regular participation of its cars at major international races such as the Mille Miglia, where in 1950, the maximum "Sport" category numbered thirteen Ermini or Ermini-powered cars. The Florence brand also made its mark abroad (even if few Ermini cars and engines left Italy) winning a Dutch class championship in 1953 with an Ermini-powered sports car and competing in several races also in the US.

And it was in the US that amateur constructor Bill Devin was inspired by the winding and captivating profile of an Ermini 357 Scaglietti, using the bodywork of the Florentine sports car to develop fibreglass bodies that were later utilised on around 400 sports cars.

This fascinating story came to an end in 1962 when the Florentine brand ceased trading.
A slumber that lasted until 2007 when, thanks to Ermini Automobili Italia, the company was reborn in Florence, almost fifty years after the closure of the mythical Ermini, one of the most legendary names in Italian sport.

In 2014, thanks to the partnership with Osella of Turin, the Ermini of the 21st century will make its bow with a car that will follow in the footsteps of the brand's historic philosophy and reintroduce, with a modern take, the concept of BARCHETTA SPORT.

Engineered by Osella
Designed by Giulio Cappellini

Technical Sheet

Chassis: Trellis / steel tubing and carbon panels
Wheelbase: 2.600 mm
Track: 1.625 mm (front) – 1.595 mm (rear)
Width: 1.850 mm
Length: 4.120 mm
Suspensions: front and rear-wheel suspensions "push road", double triangles Renault
Engine: F4RT RS - 4 cylinders 16 valve 1.998cc (320CV)
Gearbox: Sadev six speed sequential + reverse, double-disc clutch
Breaking system: Brembo with self-ventilating brake disk rotors
Coachwork: Two-seater type "Barchetta", aluminium and carbon fibre
Wheels: OZ Racing – front 7,5/17, rear 8,5/17
Tyres: Toyo R888 front 215/45-17, rear 245/40-17
Weight: 686 Kg
Performance: 270 Km/h (speed limit device)
Acceleration :0-100Km/h estimated in less than 3,5 sec.












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