Ashar Cars has finally pulled back the veil on their AF8 supercar in a press release issued this morning, and it was certainly worth the wait. The small scale company has shown off their ability to build quality cars before. The Farboud GT and Farboud GTS were their concepts, as was the first supercar to bear the Arash mame, the one-off Ashar AF10, which debuted the 2010 MPH show in London. And now, the Arash AF8 is headed to production and we had the chance to speak with Arash Farboud, owner of Arash Cars, about their newest creation.
“The styling is where it all started from, but it’s all about the way the car is made. We wanted to make something timeless that would always be celebrated, no matter how far in the future,” he told us over the phone this morning. “Just the way the car’s parts are handmade lends to that great looking style.“
The new supercar will be equipped with a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 built with an aluminum block and heads and hand finished exhaust ports. The supercar will produce a total of 550 bhp and 470 lbs-ft of torque, launching it from 0-60 mph in just 3.5 seconds and carrying it to a top speed of 200 mph. Using a six-speed manual transmission, carbon fiber air intake boxes and individual intake channels on every cylinder ensure an instant response to every touch of the gas pedal.
However, as Farboud told us, the AF8 isn’t just about power; it’s about an image, a design and a truly sensational feeling between car and driver. The car is designed to not just shock you on the streets, but to also keep you in awe until you close the garage door.
“Performance is based on stiffness and lightness. The car is very light so it carries through corners very quickly and turns very quickly. It has very aggressive but smooth power so that we can allow it to be controllable through the corners and controllable through the throttle. But it’s musical drama throughout. You hear induction through the side ports of the car; you feel vibration through the engine and chassis so you are getting a musical, sensational feeling of the car,” Farboud told us in the interview.
He continued to tell us how important fostering this connection between car and driver was in the design process. “It’s deliberately a manual gearbox so that drivers are able to deal with the gear changes and connect with the car. It doesn’t have a starter button, it has a sterling silver styled key. Essentially, you’re getting a more visceral, full experience with this car, rather than something you get into that feels like every other car.”
The car’s entire body is built from F1 spec carbon fiber parts and aerospace components. The chassis is built with steel and carbon reinforced plastic sandwich hybrid construction in order to make the supercar even lighter. Farboud tells us that the car was designed to be light enough for acceleration and maneuverability around corners but powerful enough to give you a sensational thrill. The high revving V8 and the lightweight body come together in a way that will raise the hairs on your arms.
“It’s not something you get in and think you need to push it to make it perform. You can feel its power from the moment you open the door, to the smell of the carbon fiber, the smell of the leather, to the turning of the key, to the vibration of the engine. You’re feeling it in your back; you’re feeling it through your feet and the gear changes. It’s like we say, you wear the car instead of just driving it,” said Farboud.
The AF8 brings us back to the muscle car feeling with a mix of the high performance mid engine world. Nearly the entire car comes from inside Farboud’s garage and only 36 will be built this year. Each vehicle will come with a signed plaque with the vehicle’s number and will go for about $225,000. Order yours while you still can and be a part of this beautiful innovation.
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(Source: Arash Cars)
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