The past few years have seen an influx of low-volume hypercar startups whose press releases have been full of words like ‘raw’, ‘analogue’ and ‘unfiltered’, all in response to the ongoing watering-down and tech-ification of mainstream offerings. Just in the last year we’ve seen the likes of Nilu, Oilstainlab and Giamaro, to name just a few. Now, there’s another prospective entrant: the Garagisti GP1.
That name might lead you to believe that it hails from the spiritual home of the supercar, Italy, but no: Garagisti is a British company.
Garagisti GP1 – rear
Garagisti’s name isn’t the only thing taken from Italy, though. Nestling in the middle of the car is a 6.6-litre, naturally aspirated V12, developing its quoted peak of 789bhp at a heady 9000rpm, plus over 590lb ft of torque. It’s been developed by Italtecnica, the Italian outfit that’s previously overhauled the engines of restomods including Nardone’s Porsche 928, Kimera’s Lancia 037 and Totem’s Alfa Romeo Giulia GT.
That shove is sent through a six-speed manual from British outfit Xtrac, and while we don’t have much in the way of other tech details at the time, there are some other big names supplying parts for the GP1. The brakes come from Brembo and the suspension from Ohlins, and the carbon fibre chassis and monocoque has been developed by Dexet, a tech consulting firm that’s worked with several F1 teams. Dry weight is said to be a scant 1000kg.
Garagisti GP1 – side detail
Styling, meanwhile, has been overseen by Angel Guerra, a designer formerly of Bugatti-Rimac whose fingerprints can be found on the Tourbillon and Nevera, among others. He and his team have turned to the peak of the 1970s wedge craze for inspiration, with Garagisti’s own press release namechecking the Lamborghini Countach and Lancia Stratos Zero. Check out those delicious, Alfa-ish teledial wheels too.
The inside, meanwhile, is deliberately uncluttered, eschewing a big central screen like so many other of these ‘analogue’-focused hypercar upstarts. There isn’t even a visible instrument display – presumably, it stays hidden away until the car’s started up.
Garagisti GP1 – interior
Says co-founder Mario Escudero: “Our vision for Garagisti was born from a simple question. What if the golden age of analogue supercars never ended? What if icons like the Countach Evoluzione had sparked a lineage rather than a dead-end? What would the great cars of the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s look like today if they’d evolved with new technology but kept their analogue soul?”
As is always the case with these things, don’t expect to see a GP1 on every street corner. Garagisti plans to build just 25, priced from £2.45 million before local taxes and shipping. The first 12 people to get their names down will get extra access to the car’s development programme.
Garagisti GP1 – rear
It all sounds very promising, but there’s always that nagging feeling with projects like this. A brand-new supercar brand isn’t an easy thing to get off the ground, and so many announce grand plans, then fall by the wayside and are never heard from again. Hopefully, Garagisti will be one to buck the trend – we need more screaming V12 supercars in our lives.
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