SUPERCAR SPECIAL Bloomberg Pursuits March 8, 2021
65economies of scale,” says Jonathan Klinger, Hagerty’s vice
president for car culture.
As such, supercars occupy the realm of fantasy rather than
anything as practical in real life as, say, power seats. They’re
a potent cocktail of innovation, power, and sex appeal.
“Supercars are much more than whatever performance statis-
tics they hold,” says Martin Roach, the England-based author
of The Supercar Book: The Complete Guide to the Machines That
Make Our Jaws Drop. “They tick lots of boxes in the human psy-
che, even the bad ones. A supercar is an aspirational object,
an engineering masterpiece, and an object of beauty.”
They have a mundane purpose, too, as first-time plat-
forms for inventions later applied to more affordable vehi-
cles. Parking cameras, navigation systems, dashboard clocks,
ceramic brakes, and carbon fiber materials all trace their
ancestry to supercars.
The same logic applies to electric engines. “Supercars
helped change the larger narrative around the electrifica-
tion of vehicles,” Klinger says. “Fifteen years ago, if you even
brought up the word ‘hybrid’ around a die-hard car enthusi-
ast, they would immediately jump to making fun of the Prius.”
The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid changed that calculus
in 2013, with its Le Mans-cool good looks and powerful V-8
engine. When electric motors could get to 62 mph in a scant
2.6 seconds, hybrid technology suddenly made sense to the
modern sports-car buyer. It also paved the way for Porsche
to sell the electric Taycan sedan it introduced in 2019.
Ironically, as trucks and SUVs have become the choice
for consumers—occupying 75% of the U.S. vehicle market—
supercars are more popular than ever. “Manufacturers like
ourselves are doing more special editions than in the past,”
says Peter Freedman, vice president and chief marketing offi-
cer of Aston Martin. “It has increased in the last six to seven
years as the demand for those products has increased.”
It’s telling that Lamborghini introduced two new vehicles
in 2014, five in 2018, seven in 2019, and nine in 2020. Although
production numbers are difficult to come by in the secretive
supercar sphere, “We like to make one less than we can sell,”
Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Maurizio Reggiani often
says, echoing a famous refrain.
The cars themselves have even become, dare we say,
less single-minded about blasting track records—though any
supercar by definition will remain face-searingly fast—and
more accommodating to actual life behind the wheel.
The 2021 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport, for instance, offers a
gearbox shortened by 15% for optimized canyon-carving on
lonely mountain highways. The 2021 Lamborghini Aventador
SVJ offers a push-button lift that makes it drivable over speed
bumps. Every new Ferrari features extensive entertainment
and navigation systems.
But perhaps most shocking of all is that the new Koenigsegg
Gemera offers luxuriously ample seating for four adults—and
eight cup holders. They’re such a radical concession to real
life in an otherwise extraterrestrial car, they could almost
make you forget the thing is electric. That may be the point. MCLAREN ARTURA The $225,000 Artura hybrid is
among the least expensive of the electric-powered supercars but no
less dynamic visually, with the same swooped body lines and open-
upward doors of its McLaren brethren. It pairs a six-cylinder engine
with a single electric motor for a top speed of 205 mph.A NEW BREED
OF SPEED
ASPARK OWL Announced in 2017 and under production this
year, the €3 million Japanese supercar expanded the idea of what an
electric supercar could be. It boasts a carbon fiber monocoque tub, all-
wheel drive, and, at the time of its debut, the fastest acceleration of any
electric car to date: zero to 62 mph in 1.9 seconds. Only 50 will be made.PININFARINA BATTISTA Developed by the automotive
arm of the heritage coachbuilder of the same name, the $2.5 million
Italian has four electric motors—one attached at each wheel—that
can produce 1,900 hp. Unveiled in 2019, it’s under production this
year. Only 150 will be made.LOTUS EVIJA The $2 million vehicle from the British
manufacturer debuted in 2019 and is under production this year. It
comes equipped with a system that promises 80% of a full charge in
only 12 minutes—far less than the hours required for other electric cars.
Range on the 1,972-hp car is 215 miles. Only 130 will be made.ASPARK OWLAnnounced in 2017 and under production this
PININFARINA BATTISTADeveloped by the automotive