Wiesmann was planning cheaper MF3 Roadster before bankruptcy

Founded in 1988 with its first production car completed in 1993, Wiesmann based its entire business around one design. Fortunately since that design was more retro than a Mini Cooper, it aged well, but that didn't mean it wasn't outdated when the company recently folded. The latest reports coming in from Europe, however, indicate that – before it went belly up – Wiesmann was working on a new model.

Derived from the divisively styled Wiesmann Spyder concept (pictured above), the new model was targeted to replace the entry-level MF3 Roadster and undercut its price significantly: instead of the 160,000-euro sticker price of the existing MF3 (which climbed past 200,000 or even 300,000 by the higher-level MF4 and MF5), the new MF3 would have cost around 100,000 euros.

Power would have still come from a BMW engine, though presumably with less power: the existing MF3 packed a 3.3-liter inline-six with 343 horsepower, the MF4 used a 4.4-liter V8 with 402 hp, and the MF5 a twin-turbo version of the same with 547 hp (an earlier version used the 507-hp V10 from the previous M5).

The prospect of a cheaper Wiesmann might have been enough to generate some added revenue for the company, but we'll never know if it would have been enough to save it had it reached showrooms before the creditors.