Leopard
6 Litre Roadster
Poland
isn’t famed for its automotive manufacturing. Sausages yes. Cars no. But one
small company in Warsaw, established in 1992, has been doing their best to
change all that. Leopard Automobile has been making sports cars since 1994, but
their latest creation is something rather special.
Called
the Leopard 6 Litre Roadster, the car is based around a computer-designed
tubular steel space frame chassis which has been crash tested in the UK. The
engine is a GM-sourced LS-2 all-aluminium 6.0 litre V8 which produces 405
horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 542 Nm of torque @ 4,400 rpm. The transmission is a
6-speed manual Tremec T-56 gearbox. With this drivetrain, the Leopard 6 Litre
Roadster can bolt to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 4 seconds dead. The top speed is
156 mph (250 km/h).
The
styling of the Leopard 6 Litre Roadster is one of its most distinctive
features. It joins the long list of retro and classically inspired contemporary
sports cars with modern underpinnings. Overall it’s a reasonably handsome
looking car, although the front end lets it down a little bit. Something about
the headlight positioning doesn’t look quite right to my eye. But if you can
live with that, then you probably won’t have any complaints about the rest of
the car.
The
interior too is well designed. It’s slightly more refined than you might
expect. And although it has a little bit of a kit car vibe to it, it’s neat,
tidy and well thought out. I particularly like the center console with its
chromed shifter, hand brake and four simple round buttons. The cleverly
designed chrome roll bar with integrated high-mount brake light is also worthy
of a mention.
Other
highlights of the Leopard 6 Litre Roadster include powerful Brembo brakes at
all four corners, custom designed lightweight alloy wheels forged by RH Alurad,
and a quick-rack power-assisted steering system.
If
you want to put a Leopard 6 Litre Roadster in your driveway then be prepared to
dig deep. Each car costs a rather exorbitant 130,000 EUR (US$ 170,000).
If
the lack of a solid roof puts you off, then you’ll be glad to hear Leopard are
working on a coupe version.
