The Delfino Feroce is an unproduced British
sports car
A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
manufactured by Delfino. The prototype was built using the
Subaru Impreza
The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth g ...
power unit and mechanical parts with a Delfino monocoque chassis designed by Andy Borrowman and Sean Prendergast. The prototype along with the moulds was purchased by Allard Marx who then founded Delfino cars. It was powered by a
turbocharged
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...
flat-4 Subaru engine. It is capable of a 0-60 mph time of under four seconds.
The next phase for the company is an as yet unannounced cleaner energy source to go into full production.
Composition
The basis of the Delfino Feroce consists of a GRP monocoque tub with a front Space Frame that contains the engine. The front suspension attaches to the spaceframe while the rear suspension attaches directly to the monocoque tub.
The monocoque tub was based upon the earlier Minari Kit Car designed by Andrew Borrowman and Sean Prendergast in the early 1990s, the delfino was originally a prototype Minari kit car that had been modified to take a Subaru drive train as opposed to the original Alfa Romeo drive train. The Subaru drive train was selected due to its flat 4 engine design being a similar size to the Alfa Romeo flat 4 boxer engine meaning it would fit under the bonnet without a large bulge.
History
The prototype car briefly made the news when it went missing in 2001. It was reported stolen, but was later found in police custody, having been towed away.
'Stolen' supercar found
at BBC News 21 December 2001; retrieved 30 June 2017
Foreign investment and sales
The Delfino Feroce was intended to be launched in an far Eastern country by Allard Marx. The car and company were launched amid much fanfare, national press and with that country's Prime Minister test-driving the car on national prime-time television.
Unfortunately because the car had not been developed by nationals but 'imported' as a ready but relatively little known package, the company actually had no production permits from the same government that had endorsed the car. On top of this there was no finance in place to allow them to continue the project in the country.
INCIDE, the company that owned the Delfino brand, was left with the cleanup project after a lot of wasted time and a considerable amount of embarrassment.
Video games
The car was featured in the games ''Project Gotham Racing
''Project Gotham Racing'' (''PGR'') is a series of racing video games published by Microsoft Studios, with four main titles all of which were developed by Bizarre Creations. It is the spiritual successor to Bizarre Creations' previous game ''Metr ...
'' and ''Project Gotham Racing 2
''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a 2003 arcade-style racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox (console), Xbox in November 2003 as the succe ...
''.
References
{{reflist
External links
Delfino UK Website
Dead link)
by Rod Ker, ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''. 22 August 2000; retrieved 30 June 2017
Delfino Feroce
at supercars.net
at diseno-art.com
Logo
at carlogos.net
conversation at scoobynet.com
Sports cars
Cars of England
2000s cars