British sports car specialist GTO Engineering has revealed the final exterior design of its new retro creation, while also confirming that it will be called the Squalo, which means shark in Italian.
The Squalo’s exterior design appears to have been inspired by the Ferrari 250 GT SWB of 1960, and the company is making some impressive claims about this car. Despite being powered by a V12 engine, the Squalo will reportedly weigh less than a tonne.
The styling might hark back to a different era, but the firm says the engineering principles and materials are completely modern. While it opted to use a traditional tubular steel chassis, it did add lightweight aluminium subframes and the car’s structure and body will incorporate both carbon fibre and aluminium.
GTO hasn’t told us how powerful the V12 engine is, but we do know that it is a normally aspirated 4,0-litre quadcam unit that pairs with a good old fashioned manual gearbox.
“There’s been an outpour of admiration for what we’re doing here and we realise a little bit of scepticism whether we’re actually making this: a V12-powered, sub-tonne sports car with a Sixties feel but modern reliability, enjoyment and manufacturing quality,” said GTO Engineering founder Mark Lyon.
“We’re here to hopefully set the record straight to say yes, it’s happening and we’re sticking to our original ethos for the car as well as timing promises for production. We are also delighted to have early adopters and customer orders received already, and we thank them for the trust in our vision and business,” Lyon added.
The Squalo will be built from the ground up at GTO Engineering’s headquarters in Reading, England, with the first customer deliveries scheduled for 2023. No prices have been mentioned, but the vehicle will be available in global markets.