The Gumpert Apollo is a sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

. Gumpert filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in August 2013, thereby ending the production of the Apollo.

History

In 2000, Roland Gumpert proposed a new generation of

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 ...

s. One of the primary criteria for this car was that it be street-legal yet ready for the racetrack. He returned to Germany at the end of 2001, after over three years in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

where he was the head of sales and marketing responsible for the development of the dealer network of the

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

- VW joint enterprise there. Subsequently, automobile designer Roland Mayer asked him if he would assist in building a prototype

. Audi approved Gumpert's involvement in this project, on the condition that, if they did eventually develop a new sports car, it would not be a

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

, but a series product. The company, located in

, Germany was founded in 2004 under the name GMG Sportwagenmanufaktur Altenburg GmbH. The technical guidelines were defined and the first designs of the car were drawn by Marco Vanetta. Upon Vanetta's completion of this process, the first 1:4

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

of Gumpert's car was produced in 2001. Gumpert continued with the development of the Apollo, along with the Technical University of Munich and the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. They assisted him with the constructional work, computer simulations, and wind tunnel tests. This research and development helped forming the blueprint for the first 1:1 scale model. Finally, two prototype cars were constructed. Production of the Apollo started in October 2005. The philosophy behind this vehicle was to make Roland Gumpert's Le Mans dreams come true. A car homologated to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and also road-legal. Soon after the first fully functioning road car made its way to Europe, the car became fully road-legal and was sold in various Gumpert dealerships. Very soon after, car reviewers praised the car's speed and cornering. During a review in ''Autocar'' magazine, chief test driver Matt Prior stated that "the Apollo recalibrates the meaning of pure speed and driving feel." On Series 11 of '' Top Gear'', the Apollo lapped the Top Gear test track in a time of 1:17.1, setting a record that lasted for 2 years until surpassed by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Design

The Apollo weighs between and (depending on options), and is fully street-legal. It is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive two-seater constructed on a tubular chromoly frame, with

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

or optional

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

body panels. Gumpert claims the design of the Apollo is optimised so that the car could drive upside-down in a tunnel if driven at speeds over , but this has not been tested. The Apollo set a 7:11.57 lap time at Nürburgring achieved by German car magazine Sport Auto.

Engine

The Apollo uses a 4,163 cc bi-turbo intercooled version of the Audi V8 engine. The 90° V8 has a closed-deck light metal crankcase with

dry sump A dry sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in Four-stroke engine, four-stroke and large Two-stroke engine, two-stroke Reciprocating engine, reciprocating internal combustion engines. The dry sump system uses two or more o ...

lubrication. The light metal cylinder heads have five valves per cylinder, four overhead camshafts, VarioCam Direct variable valve timing on the intakes, and hydraulic valve clearance compensation. The double-flow exhaust system has four oxygen sensors to monitor the gas mixture, and a 3-way

catalytic converter A catalytic converter part is an vehicle emissions control, exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis, catalyzing a redox ...

. Modern controls include an on-board diagnostic system, eight-coil electronic ignition, sequential multipoint

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

, and an electronic ( drive by wire) accelerator system. There were 3 engine types available: * Base version - approximately * Sport version - approximately * Race version - approximately Speed overview (650 hp): * Top speed: * 0-: 3.1 seconds * 0-: 9.1 seconds

References

External links

{{commons category, Gumpert Apollo
Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur

Gumpert USA

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars of Germany Cars introduced in 2005 Automobiles with gull-wing doors First car made by manufacturer Racing cars Sports cars Coupés