Renowned Italian race car chassis manufacturer Dallara, which works in top-flight motorsport including Formula 1 and IndyCar, is preparing its own road car, due before the end of this year.
A recent trademark filing suggests that the model will take the name Stradale. The trademark comes from Dallara Automobili SpA, and has been filed for use across the European market. A stylised logo has also been submitted for trademarking.
Read more about the Dallara road car here
The new model is set to be a back-to-basics rival to cars such as the Alfa Romeo 4C and KTM X-Bow — both of which Dallara helped to develop. Company founder Giampaola Dallara said: “It will not be a normal car; it will be a car without a door.”
Dallara also said there were “a lot of lessons from KTM and a lot of lessons from our old racing activity”.
With a maximum annual production run of 120 units, the new car is set to use a 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine, capable of developing up to 400bhp, and a manual transmission, both of which will be sourced from a supplier. That could well be Ford, which uses its 2.3-litre Ecoboost engine in models such as the new Ford Mustang. When asked how much the as-yet-unnamed model would weigh, Dallara said: “We will go for something like 800kg.” The X-Bow weighs 847kg.
He added that it would be priced above the X-Bow, which costs from £57,000, “because performance is higher”, and claimed the car was more technologically advanced than the X-Bow.
A Dallara road car project was most recently mentioned publicly in 2014, when reports said it was due in 2017, but it now seems the timeframe has changed. “We believe it will be ready before the end of the year, when I will be 80. It will be my last car,” said Dallara.
As well as working on the Alfa Romeo 4C and KTM X-Bow, the Italian firm offers consultancy to automotive brands including Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati. It also know to have helped developed the Bugatti Veyron and Huracan GT3.
Additional reporting by Dieter Rencken
