Laffite's All - Terrain Supercar
b'
Based in Los Angeles, Laffite Supercars designs unique concept cars and manufactures short-run automobiles.\\xa0
This week, the company introduced the X-Road, a street-legal all-terrain vehicle that combines off-road power with high-end luxury.\\xa0
The X-Road delivers up to 700 horsepower and weighs 2,866 pounds, which gives the driver a horsepower-to-pound ratio of 4.09 lbs/hp. Now, that won't put it in the Top 10, where supercars like the Hennessey Venom GT2 has a horsepower-to-pound ratio of 55.87 hp/lb, but according to the company, that does give it the best performance from an all-terrain supercar.\\xa0
\\xa0The car has a 17-inch suspension travel that allows drivers to jump like a Dakar rally prototype in the desert or casually drive through the neighborhood.\\xa0
The company is only making 30 of them and plans to start delivering them by the end of 2020. However, the starting price is steep $465,000, and if you want the electric version, tack on another $80K.\\xa0
Laffite Supercars is owned by former professional race car driver Bruno Laffite and his wife, Laetitia. The company has operations in LA, Miami, and Valencia, Spain. The final car assembly will take place at the Los Angeles facilities, and the car is registered for the road in California. Bruno is also the nephew of legendary Formula One driver Jacques Laffite.
If the car looks familiar, that's because it's nearly identical to the SandRacer 500GT that debuted in December 2015. In June 2017, supercar manufacturer Zarooq Motors announced that the luxury supercar was ready for limited production.\\xa0
The launch had some eerie similarities. For example, SandRacer's initial production run was going to be 35 cars; it started at $450,000, and one of Zarooq Motors' founders was ... former professional race car driver Bruno Laffite, nephew of legendary Formula One driver Jacques Laffite.
The Sandracer was once called the "Off-Road Lamborghini of Arabia." Since then, the company has all but disappeared. Let's hope the X-Road doesn't suffer a similar fate.
Download and listen to the audio version below and click here to subscribe to the Today in Manufacturing podcast.
'