Wednesday, July 15, 2009

GTA Spano supercar debuts in Valencia


Anything you can do, I can do...also. That seems to be the modus operandi of the Spanish auto industry vis-a-vis the Italians. So while Volkswagen is vying to reshape its Seat subsidiary into an Iberian version of Alfa Romeo, Spanish racing team GTA has been hard at work developing its own supercar to rival the best from Ferrari and Lamborghini. After months of speculation on our part and preparation on theirs, the GTA Spano has finally made its debut in Valencia, the same Mediterranean coastal city that hosts the European Grand Prix. While only limited details were revealed at the Spano's launch, our compadres over at AB Spanish got it covered.

Underneath the rather generic supercar body lies the beating heart of the beast: an 8.3-liter V10, purportedly sourced from the Dodge Viper, and tuned to deliver 780 horsepower. That's said to be good enough to propel the carbon, kevlar and titanium supercar to 100 km/h (62 mph) in a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it 2.9 seconds. The engine is mated to a choice of seven-speed paddle-shifter, automatic or gated manual transmission, 19" wheels coated in ultra-low-profile rubber grip the road at all fours, and the engine is even designed to burn straight alcohol if so desired. Production will be limited to 99 examples, each available at a price of around $670,000. Given GTA's racing background, a competition version is also expected to be in the works, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the images in the gallery below and the details in the press release after the jump.