Apollo (Germany, 2005)

A street-legal race car: this could be the definition of the Apollo. This model was based on Audi components. Marco Vanetta was the responsible for the design of the firsts Apollo cars. In 2002 its vision was saceles in 1:4 model. After that, Gumpert carry on with the project with the collaboration of the Technical University in Munich and the University of Applied Sciences in Ingolstadt.

After two prototypes being made, the Apollo production started in 2005.

Apollo is a high performance sports car that has amazing marks: 650 horsepower (or should we say griffin power), 360 Km/h top speed and it takes 3 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h. To boost it all, an eight cylinder engine, twin-turbocharged.

It has a sequential six-speed transmission with a dual clutch system.

Carbon fibre body on chrome molybdenum spaceframe   Platform   Suspension Double wishbones   Steering rack-and-pinion   Brakes                 380 mm; ventilated discs, all-round, ABS

Streamlined, with long and wide shoulder lines, the Apollo design suffered many changes throughout the wind tunnel tests.

The low weight was a concern and the car was made of fiberglass and carbon-fibre. The monocoque and the integrated instrument panel are in carbon fiber as well. In total, the car ended up weighting less than 1200 kg. Designed for performance, those who have driven Apollo say that the comfort wasn’t overlooked.

Apollo comes with an air conditioning and navigation systems and DVD- player. A back camera helps with the more complicated maneuvers.

Apollo has raced in Hockenheim, Imola and the historical “Nordschleife”. Its debut race was for the Divinol Cup at Hockenheim in 2005, where it finished in third place at the hands of the Belgium driver Ruben Maes.