The Middle East is about to get its first supercar. Beirut-based W Motors announced its attention to sell a car to rival the best from Italy and Germany back in July of last year, and that car is ready. Called the LykanHypersport, it will be unveiled at the Qatar Motor Show on January 29.
The name sounds extreme, and so does the rest of the car. While not exactly pretty, it looks like the love child of the Batmobile and an F-117 Nighthawk, which is cool. Like every other modern performance car, the LykanHypersport is also festooned with vents, including Aston Martin One-77-like vertical slits that begin at the headlights.
The LykanHypersport also sports some unique details, including diamond-encrusted LED taillights and suicide doors. Is this a supercar, or a wedge-shaped Rolls-Royce?
Of course, a true supercar needs to be more than just a sculpture. This may be its first car, but W Motors is promising world-beating performance. The engine will be a mid-mounted flat-six with two turbochargers. That may not sound impressive, but W Motors says it will pump out 750 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. To put that in perspective: the Lamborghini Aventador’s V12 produces 691 hp and 510 lb-ft.
That means the LykanHypersport should be fairly quick. W Motors says it will do 0 to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 239 mph, which would make it among the fastest cars in the world.
Befitting a car with 750 hp and diamond lights, the interior won’t be spartan. Highlights include gold stitching, an LD4Motion interactive dashboard (is it made from bits of an old Volkswagen Passat?) and a “3D Virtual Holographic Display with Tactile Interaction,” which definitely has the most impressive sounding name of any piece of automotive electronica.
The LykanHypersport could also take the prize for world’s most expensive car. It will cost $3.4 million, although that includes a $200,000 special edition Cyrus Klepcy watch. Only seven cars will be built.
Upstart supercar builders are nothing new, but they often turn out to be nothing but automotive vaporware. Is the LykanHypersport the real deal?
Its engine, options, high price, and low production volume all seem a bit hard to believe, but W Motors has the backing of some established automotive players. At its coming out party last July, company executives stood shoulder-to-shoulder with representatives from Magna Steyr, a contractor that helped develop Mercedes-Benz’s 4Matic all-wheel drive system, and Porsche tuner Ruf Automobile. How the partnership has played out since then is unclear.
We’ll at least get a better look at this Lebanese supercar when it launches at the Qatar Motor Show January 29, but only time will tell whether it is a serious item, or a flight of fancy.
