KTM plans to continue its quirky expansion into the world of four-wheelers by turning its savage X-Bow GT2 racer into an Audi-powered street-legal supercar – complete with a pop-up jet-fighter style cockpit.
A motorcycle company first and foremost, KTM first dipped its toe into the car world back in 2008. The original X-Bow was an open-top, ultra-light sports machine designed to deliver visceral experiences on track and endless giggles on the street, in the tradition of machines like the Ariel Atom. A Dallara carbon tub monocoque weighing just 80 kg (176 lb) provided the skeleton, and Kiska design added just enough bodywork to keep things decent.
More recently, with open-tops still selling well, KTM has evolved the X-Bow into a fully-enclosed GT2 race car with a pop-up jet fighter canopy and a seriously juiced-up 600-horsepower Audi inline five mounted at the rear. The X-Bow GT2 weighs in at 1,048 kg (2,310 lb) in race trim, but despite the space-age pop-top, it wouldn't look out of place parked out the front of a casino next to a brace of McLarens and Ferraris.
And so here we are. Taking the GT2 car as a basis, KTM has announced it's going to produce its first street-legal supercar with a roof. The road and race car teams will keep in close contact throughout development, and while we assume it'll keep the same basic architecture, engine and sleek look of the race car, all KTM's revealing at the moment is that it'll run a carbon monocoque, carbon-reinforced polymer bodywork, and a reinforced canopy.
That, and three camouflaged photos of what's presumably a prototype of the street car out on track. We say presumably, because frankly we can't see any substantial differences from the GTX track machine. Maybe the camouflage is just working really well. Jump into the gallery and take a look for yourself.
We'll have to wait for the full launch for details. As to price, well, the X-Bow GT2 sells for €294,000 (US$332,600), so it'll be interesting to see what the process of street homologation does to that figure as well as the power, weight and fit-out.
Source: KTM