At a glance, the Iconic GTR looks like just another Cobra replica. But taking a closer look you realize it's the bespoke details that make it special. Shiny toggle switches, plush leather, jewel-like gauges, a roll-bar that conceals LED turn signals with a full spectrum of color adjustment; it all makes the GTR feel like a creation made for winning the Riddler Award. But don't think that it's all show and no go — the body is all carbon-fiber with ground effects that help make over 500 pounds of downforce. Open the power-operated bonnet you'll find a F1-style front suspension and the heart of the beast, a 800 HP naturally-aspirated 6.9-liter V8. And that's not just some crate motor, it's a hand-assembled custom with a unique fuel-injection system.
Iconic Motors says that this is just the beginning for their company, even hinting at the possibility of a future electric supercar, but time will tell. For now, the planned run of 100 GTR Roadsters will be sold for about $600,000 a pop. That may seem like quite a lot if you're comparing it to a fiberglass kit car; but if you look at it through the eyes of the carnauba-drenched, mirrors to show off the chassis, custom hot rod commissioners, it all makes sense.
Long Island, N.Y. - The GTR Roadster by Iconic Motors will make its world auto show debut at the New York International Auto Show. A truly groundbreaking automobile, the Iconic GTR boasts 18 pending U.S. patents, a chassis made of high strength chromoly, a carbon fiber passenger tub and carbon fiber body panels, and a high performance air management system with under body inverted carbon fiber wings designed to generate more than 500 pounds of down force at 175 miles per hour.The Iconic GTR's 1950s inspired body design features many panels constructed of a poly silicate matrix sandwiched between two layers of carbon fiber that results in an incredibly strong light weight and rigid body. With its carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb reinforced chassis having over 20,000 pounds of torsional rigidity, the GTR offers a level of performance handling that rivals that found in many modern race cars.
"I have wanted to build a car that combines the latest innovative technologies with the most exquisite detailing, design and all out performance since the day I began reading car magazines as a kid," said Claudio Ballard, the inventor and visionary behind the GTR Roadster. "Everything from the custom-built, heated and cooled carbon fiber seats to the computerized gas cap that slides open like the glass on a moon roof embodies my vision."
From its luxurious leather and suede hand-stitched interior to its hand-assembled 420-cid/800-horsepower naturally aspirated V-8 engine, the vehicle is a rolling showcase for revolutionary technology shrouded in a racecar. The entire nose clip swings up and forward to reveal the highly detailed engine compartment, showcasing a custom-fabricated engine built to super car racing standards featuring titanium valves, high strength light weight stainless and aluminum components throughout along with the very latest in high performance friction reduction technology. The patent pending shifter mechanism is specifically designed to display its inner workings as a beautiful piece of automotive artwork, and even the gauges, dashboard starter and hazard light push button switches are custom designed from stainless steel and manmade synthetic sapphire with a hardness level just below that of diamond. The dash center console has a 8-inch touch screen display utilizing the same bright-view technology found in military strike fighters and bombers for clear visibility regardless of sunlight exposure in support of its onboard GPS navigation and driver information displays.
The Iconic GTR - proudly designed, engineered and constructed using state-of-the-art computer-aided design and manufacturing technology entirely in the United States with over 99% U.S. sourced materials.
Ballard will build one hundred of these high performance pieces of rolling artwork roadsters. Priced at $600,000, his team will begin taking orders for the Iconic GTR in April with production slated to begin in Fall 2008.
[Iconic Motors]













Comments
It's beautiful, but I wonder how it handles in turns. That is a really short wheelbase for 800hp. snap-oversteer may be a big problem.
'Open the power-operated bonnet...'
Since when is Jalopnik a British site?
What a weird mix of awesome and ridiculous.
I do like the engine's hot sex tubes.
Fu*ck Spiker. This thing is a work of art.
Watch out for horny dragons
It looks and sounds like it is nicely engineered. Too bad it looks like a really bad 427 Cobra kit car. Why couldn't they have used some of the other classic cars he rattled off as inspiration for the design in the actual design of the car?
Carroll Shelby would be spinning in his grave were he not still alive.
@Buckster:
Pretty awesome but I think I'd still go with the Factory Five Racing version slap a supercharger on it and pocket the extra $580K.
Unique fuel injection ::cringe:: Sounds like fun....
@FLB: Exactly. And "bespoke" - please let's not start using that word on this site. Speak 'Merican, for chrissakes!
On behalf of Roget and Webster, I hereby request that Jalopnik and TTAC please never use any of the following in a car writeup, ever again. Their consistent usage has exceeded that of common diction by over 100-fold:
Bespoke
Ersatz
Erstwhile
Thank you for your understanding.
Carroll Shelby: When do I get paid for this, and how much?
Anyone know why there seems to be dual e-brake levers? Could it be that the passenger side is an oh-shit-handle that just looks like an e-brake lever?
There's no doubt that this car has some very cool features but, face it, $600k for an Iconic is just plain moronic.
I like how the electronically-operated fuel door only weighs 8 pounds. I wonder how much a cable-operated fuel door weighs? 1 pound and change maybe? You'd think that if you go to the expense of making an all-carbon fiber body for your car, you'd follow through with the weight savings elsewhere, rather than wasting it on electronically-opening fuel doors.
very nice, but what's with the bags under the eyes. Was it up partying all night?
I certainly wouldn't kick this one out of bed.
Are we sure this wasn't designed by dragons?
I, for one would stick with a Spyker.
I think there was a dragon focus group.
Its face looks like it has detected a dragon's approach. Oh noes!!1
also: what kind of joke is 'poly silicate matrix' ?
And am i the only person who thinks a large part of the current focus on 'coach building' is as a result of Supercars.net coverage of concours d'elegances like Pebble Beach?
It's kind of a sacrilege to take something as simple and brutally effective as the original Cobra design and lard it down with all these pissy wood/leather/electronic cosmetic accents and gewgaws. Sometimes less really is more.
Here we have definitive proof that just because you can doesn't automatically mean you should. I predict that this will become the picture accompanying the word "overkill" and perhaps "overengineered" in future dictionaries.
Boxte-robra DB5. What ever happened to having a car you could drive the poo out of, and not worry about the size of your gearshift?
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