Remember Zarooq Motors’ 525 HP
SandRacer GT off-road supercar? It has reincarnated into the 700 HP Laffite
G-Tec X-Road and has moved from the United Arab Emirates To California. The man
behind both projects, Bruno Laffite, is the nephew of Jacques Laffite, a
six-time race winner in Formula One. Together with his wife, Laetitia Laffite,
he set up a company called Laffite Supercars, which specializes in automotive
design and the creation of concept cars and road-ready limited series models.
Based in Los Angeles, Miami
and Valencia (we wonder how that is working out), Laffite Supercars
collaborated on the X-Road project with G-Tec, a company headed by racing
engineer Philippe Gautheron. His team created and engineered the X-Road’s
rolling chassis made of chromium molybdenum steel. Its makers describe the
X-Road as “the first all-terrain street-legal supercar that delivers immense
power, exceptional performance and a luxurious appeal, all in one package.”
It’s powered by a GM LS3
6.2-liter V8 engine delivering up to 720 horsepower to the rear wheels via a
six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters. Weighing in at just 1,300 kg, the Laffite G-Tec X-Road offers the power-to-weight ratio of a
supercar (4.09 lbs/hp) and can hit a top speed of 230 km/h.
Add to that the 17 inches (432
mm) of suspension travel and the massive BF Goodrich off-road tires and it’s
not hard to imagine it jumping and flying across desert dunes like a Dakar
rally prototype.
Assembled in Los Angeles, the
X-Road will be available in a limited run of only 30 units, with deliveries set
to begin at the end of 2020. Prices start at US$ 465,000 but Laffite Supercars
says an all-electric version will also be available for US$ 545,000. Until then,
the company claims it is finalizing a second new supercar concept that should
be revealed in February 2020.
