If you’re looking for crazy, hyperbolic supercars that may or may not actually be production-feasible, then the Middle East is where you want to be. This relentlessly-angular machine is a case in point.
Billed as Qatar’s first supercar, the Elibriea concept debuted this week at the 2016 Qatar Motor Show. It was designed by a 27-year-old student at Texas A&M’s Qatar campus, and the people behind it claim this wild two-seat coupe will go into production, although, as with all upstart carmakers, you might want to hold off on banking that deposit.
If nothing else, Elibriea has cornered the market on unusual styling. The pointed prow looks like it was inspired by an alien spaceship, and there are Lamborghini-like scissor doors with odd cutouts in them. Besides the obvious details, though, the most unusual thing may be the proportions. The Elibriea seems strangely narrow and long, with lots of real estate between the rear edges of the doors and the back wheels.
Underneath the love-it-or-hate-it bodywork is a General Motors-sourced V6 engine that produces either 525 horsepower or 800 hp (both figures are being quoted in reports out of Qatar). Elibriea claims its creation weighs just 2,200 pounds thanks to carbon fiber construction, but didn’t publish any performance figures. That low curb weight should make the car fairly entertaining, though.
Elibriea says it will begin taking pre-orders for the car in March, with deliveries set to start in December. That’s pretty ambitious, considering the company has never built a car before, and didn’t even mention where its factory will be located, or how much the car will cost.
That seems to be the case more often than not with new companies peddling supercars. It’s relatively easy to create an attention-getting design and back it up with performance figures that may or may not be imagined. But actually putting a car on sale is incredibly difficult. Just ask John DeLorean, Malcolm Bricklin, or Henrik Fisker.
