Yes it's Australian, and until a week or 2 ago I had never heard about it. Basically what it is is a sub-300kg 170hp bike-engined track car (which I'm guessing is just that, a track car, since there are no headlights) but for a track car of such weight it's actually quite pretty. 0-100km/hr in under 3sec, and only 300 will be made (that's two 300 references, get it?). For just $90k it's quite the performance bergain, but since you probably can't take it on the road, the price suddenly seems steep. The whole thing is like a teenager's wet dream.
(Sorry I couldn't find linkable pics, here's their website: http://www.spartan-v.com/spartan-v.com/Home.html)
I can see "I am Sparta!" being thrown on the side of the car. I have also noticed that it does have taillights and mirrors. Could that mean that it's street legal in certain countries? Even so I can't wait to see if this car will be on Top Gear.
Worth mentioning the engine in the Spartan - a Ducati V-Twin, rather than the usual swarm-of-bees-in-a-tumble-dryer Japanese fours. Interesting break from the norm and the styling goes hand in hand with the engine.
Looks quite nice... how much is $90k AU in £/$ US/€ (currencies I understand ).
The challenge for this type of car (non-road legal track day specials) is that there are some pretty serious 2nd hand race cars out there that are probably going to be both cheaper and faster.
Edit:
No matter I found the exchange rate... $90k AU = c.£54k! Quite a bit considering you can buy a really nice Radical SR3 for well under £20k.... which would leave you £30k to fund a proper race season
Nice. A real thumbs up to these guys, although how much would it cost for some lights and mirrors? I would at least tack those on the car so I could drive it on the roads.
Ha, I could see someone with like hand mirrors and flashlights taped on that thing!
I'd love to see it in action, maybe Top Gear Australia will test one one day. Someone needs to make a picture of this pushing an Elfin or something into a hole screaming "I am Sparta!".
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