Farbio Supercharged GTS 2007 Pictures

Farbio Supercharged GTS 2007 Pictures High Res

               

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Farbio Supercharged GTS 2007

Britain has taken a real dent when it comes to the production of pure breed sports cars, however the new Farbio GTS is ready to hit the big time with more demand internationally than it can currently supply

It could be the matchbox icon of the noughties; the aspiration to fill every 7-year old’s toy chest. Despite its sleek, classic styling however you won’t find a Ferrari badge in sight. Better still you won’t find a Ferrari price tag. In fact it infringes more on Porsche’s territory with its base model being sold at just under £60,000 and rising to £71,675 for the supercharged version. Now when you consider that its power to weight ratio surpasses even the likes of a Ferrari F430 or a Lamborghini Gallardo, forking out your annual salary doesn’t sound too much of a pinch.

Now I expect your thinking that to make a car this light it must be a stripped out track car that you’d only get to use on the odd weekend. Nope; thanks to its carbon fibre spaceframe chassis it can afford quite a few luxuries inside the cabin. According to Farbio Sports Cars owner, Chris Marsh who was formally at Marcos, the Farbio is very much built for every day use and has all the comforts you’d expect from a car in this price bracket. We have to admit that with standard features like Sparco Milano reclining seats, air-con, sat nav, blue tooth and even Bespoke leather organiser pouches it does sound like long journeys would be pretty coushy.

But what about the ride quality? Extreme sports cars with 384 horses on tap and 0-60mph times of sub four seconds often have very taut suspensions that will give you brain shake at low speeds. Conversely, the Farbio GTS is primarily aimed at road users and its fully adjustable dampers and Eibach coil-over springs are very versatile to bouts of both open road hammering and trickling along at tick over through the city. You’ve also got Four-pot AP Racing callipers with vented discs measuring 350mm up front and 328mm at the rear so should you want to really open out the throttle on the track, there’s some serious stopping power to counteract all that grunt.
Talking of the Farbio’s quite spectacular performance, its engine is a slightly tinkered with version of Ford’s 3-litre V6 Duratec unit. Chris Marsh comments “We could have developed our own but it was much more cost effective to use an engine that was already tried and tested; this way our buyers have the piece of mind that their investment is going to be reliable years down the line.” At present UK owners of the Farbio GTS can enjoy a very personable service, visiting the Farbio production plant just outside Bath for any repairs or after care matters. There will soon be dealerships in various hotspots around the nation though as demand is ever increasing.

Sounds like the Farbio GTS is doing pretty well considering it was officially launched just last week doesn’t it? That’s because the concept has been around since 2002 where it was unveiled at the NEC Motorshow in Birmingham. Due to hoards of eager customers leaving their contact details there is already an eight month waiting list for it in Britain, whereas American importers are requesting fifty a year – a figure that Farbio sports cars will have to build up to. There are also importers in Thailand and Scandanavia who want a slice of this re-engineered masterpiece.

Now re-engineered is a bit of an understatement, when Chris Marsh took on the original concept from Arash Farboud, an Iranian entrepreneur, it needed quite an overhaul to bring the quality up to standard. The chassis particularly needed work and the roof was also heightened to accommodate for 6’6”drivers. Then of course there was the engine and other core components to source and test. Arash knew that Chris was up to the job though having seen the Invicta S1sports car that Chris was largely responsible for. With this in mind Arash set up a meeting with him in a bid to get Chris to build the car. Arash’s initial tact was to forge a partnership but he ended up selling his shares. Now only one other man gets dividends, this being Britcar Driver Michael Symons. The designer of the original concept however still remains a secret; perhaps he is shy. One thing’s for sure, he’s inspired a real insurgence for niche British sports cars and his sketches have certainly passed through the right hands.
What we have today is a blend of track-car handling (it has an idealic 39:61 front to rear weight distribution to back this up) and the practicality of a GT with a 76-litre fuel tank and space in the boot for a weekend bag and a set of golf clubs; you can’t say fairer than that. There’s plenty of goodies on the options list too like ten different shades of paint, Alcantara and leather upholstery, 19” split-rim alloys and an upgraded sound system. The Farbio GTS requires servicing every 10,000 miles and comes with a two year warranty. It is set to lure the likes of Porsche and Aston buyers with its pure breed appeal, Lotus Elise owners will no doubt be tempted too and with attractive finance options available there’s little to prevent them taking this next step up.

As if Mr Marsh hasn’t got his work cut out already, there is also talk that he may be called upon to build a car for the FIA GT3 championship. As well as gaining yet more recognition the Farbio marque will further get to prove its pedigree and of course its resilience.

Verdict
FOR: Classic, sleek but also quite exotic, the Farbio GTS has enchanting design features as well as the promise of focussed handling, optimal performance and all the comforts of a Grand Tourer.
AGAINST: It’s too soon to tell whether there will be any glitches but judging by the experience and expertise invested in this project we are expecting plenty of satisfied customers.
CONCLUSION: Of course it’s all very easy to be patriotic and get behind niche British production companies but us vigilant enthusiasts are still hard cookies to crack, we want innovation and a money back guarantee. Well the GTS was waiting for a long time in the shadows to be the kind of car that would bring us to our knees and it’s certainly had that affect on quite a number of awe-struck buyers.

Spec
ENGINE: 3-litre V6 24v
POWER: 384bhp
0-60mph (sec): 3.9
TOP SPEED: 175mph +
TRANSMISSION: Six speed manual gearbox
SUSPENSION: The suspension comprises of a double wishbone setup front and rear, with fully adjustable dampers and Eibach coil-over springs.
BRAKES: Four Pot A.P. Racing Calipers with 350mm vented discs on the front and 328mm vented discs on the rear.
WHEELS: Front Wheels: 19 x 8.5″ offset 30mm - Multispoke design Rear Wheels: 19 x 9.5″ offset 30mm - Multispoke design
TYRES: Front Tyres: Toyo T1-R Proxes 245/35/19 Rear Tyres: Toyo T1-R Proxes 285/35/19
WEIGHT: 1066kg
PRICE: £71,675
RIVALS: Porsche 911 Carrera GT, Aston Martin DB9, Maserati GT, Jaguar XKR