© Provided by Mirror With a price tag which for many of us would only be affordable with a lottery win, the world's first titanium car is a true collector's piece.But the Icona Vulcano is an automobile for which car aficionados will swoon.
With its sleek, smooth lines and a supercharged 6.2-litre V-8 engine, it's a petrolhead's dream which,
at $2.8million (£2.16m) equals the reported cost of the wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
© Provided by Mirror But it really is reserved for the elite or, in fact, one member, as it's a one-of-a-kind that's never to be repeated, according to Icona.Icona boasts a 0-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 220 mph.
© Provided by Mirror The company says the car's naked titanium body signifies more than 10,000 hours of hand-crafted work by CECOMP, and carbon fibre is also used in the build, most commonly used in Formula One cars.The strongly-sculpted body side was to be used to evacuate hot air from the engine and reduce the air turbulence generated by the wheels, they explain on their website .
© Provided by Mirror Icona's design director Samuel Chuffart says: "As different ideas came together, the most challenging design issue which we faced was how to create a balance between power and beauty."When you’re trying to create a feeling of aesthetic harmony, you risk creating too many sweet lines, which decreases the feeling of power.
© Provided by Mirror "On the other hand, if you make too much of the powerful features which are necessary to a supercar such as its cooling cutouts and blades which manage the air flow, they become graphically too dominant, and this makes the car less beautiful."The way we found the right balance was usually by looking for the greatest simplicity."
Coupled with the style element is the power, which was a project headed up by Claudio Lombardi, former powertrain technical director of Ferrari and mastermind of numerous world champion cars, and Mario Cavagnero, the man behind Lancia Racing.
Icona's specs site explains: "Capable to be tuned to well over 1.000 horsepower should the owner demand it, the optimized 670 horsepower and 840 N/m of its supercharged V8 is coupled with a paddle-shift close ratio gearbox from Automac Modena, allowing 0 to 60 miles/hr in 2.8 seconds and 120 miles/hr in 8.8 seconds."
The calibration and optimisation of the shift times, ratios and differential gear have given the vehicle a balance in the distribution of power and eliminated the traditional gear lever replacing it with pads connected to the sensors on the steering column.
"The result achieves an extreme simplicity of combined driving at a considerable speed of change by only touching the blades with fingers, without ever taking hands off the steering wheel," the company adds. in good news for speed fans.
Inside, as well as the sensor-equipped steering column, is a 12.3in touch screen, and the trim is a mix of Poltrona Frau Leather and Alcantara - a durable material that's 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane.
The forged aluminium front wheels are 20in in diameter, rear measuring 21in, with Pirelli P Zero tyres.
The Brembo brakes have carbon-ceramic discs and six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear, reports Motor Authority .
The car will be on display at the 2016 Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance in Blenheim Palace from September 1-3.
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