Ares Design Pulls Back the Curtains on Roofless S1 Project Spyder

Improving and enhancing the automotive landscape with more luxury and personalisation is what Ares Design is all about. Revitalising and modernising classics cars, producing one-off supercars or carrying out customised fabrication is all part of Ares’s raison d’etre.

Ares Design has pulled back the curtains on its boutique supercar S1 Project Spyder. The new vehicle follows the company’s S1 Project Coupe, giving its Barchetta-style silhouette a roofless design this time around.

We wanted to create a model that is a true tribute to the pleasure of sport driving. This new [vehicle] adds more charm to the S1 Project design as it takes additional inspiration from the world of motorsport and the racing cars of the past.

Dany Bahar, Ares co-founder

Simply said, it is the homeless (as in no roof, no soft top or anything) version of the earlier S Project. Is that practical? No, not at all. Is it spectacular? Yes, very much – nothing that happens outside the car, in terms of smell, noise, wind and yes: rain will also escape you.

Did it once started with the Isdera Spider in the 1980’s! and the De Tomaso Guara Barchetta (1993), it’s a body style is somehow been quite popular with supercarmakers lately. Just think of cars like the Ferrari Monza, the McLaren Elva and the Aston Martin V12 Speedster.

Exterior

Ares’ S1 Project Spyder adopts the style of its coupé twin, but at the same time rebuffs it in a new form that is even more extreme and uncompromising, with a design enriched by the absence of the roof and the windscreen. To assure the ultimate driving experience, Ares’ Centro Stile designed two wind deflectors that flawlessly emerge from the streamlined bodywork, redirecting the air flow over the passengers into the air intakes behind the headrests and creating a virtual canopy and a calm driving environment, to fully enjoy the unique dynamic experience.

Coming with two deflectors, its windscreen-less design pushes up air current over the driver and into air intakes behind the headrests to create a ‘virtual canopy’.

The S1 Project Spyder fully embodies all the values of the Ares design language, where form meets function to offer unique style, unparalleled dynamic performance and a pure, unfiltered driving experience.

Engineering

Beneath its handmade carbon fibre bodywork, the S1 Project Spyder houses a centrally mounted, naturally aspirated Corvette C8 6.2L V8 engine. With a maximum of 8,800 rpm, the car’s powerful acceleration will deliver a 0-100 kph in 2.7 seconds.

Apart from its exterior body, the S1 Project Spyder does not differ greatly from the inner mechanics of its coupe twin. Under the hood, the car has a naturally aspirated V8 engine that can rev up to 8,800 rpm and put out 715 horsepower.

Ares Design has also created the bespoke exhaust system and revised the engine ECU to achieve a maximum power output of 522kw (715hp), delivered via the rear wheels and an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox and double wishbone suspensions, with forged aluminium axles and adaptive Magnetic Ride Control.

Interior

Without the windscreen, the sinuous carbon-fibre bodywork of the S1 Project Spyder takes on a unique, organic form, flowing through the interior to divide and envelop the passengers. Bespoke hand-crafted and richly finished with fine Napa leather and Alcantara, the S1 Project Spyder’s interior reveals elegant, minimalist lines, with the HMI positioned entirely on the centre console and dashboard.

The vehicle’s open cockpit offers a bold contrast between the silver-toned body and its delicately handcrafted Napa leather and Alcantra-covered interiors.

The wrapping shapes contrast with the absence of a roof and windscreen, emphasising the sensations experienced while behind the wheel.

No official release date for the S1 Project Spyder has been announced, but like its predecessor, the model will be limited to just 24 examples. Units will be built to order, with order books already open.

Come into the beautiful world of Ares Design.

Ares Panther, The beast is almost free

In December last year, Ares Design, the company of former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, announced that there are still a few special projects in the pipeline. The Italian, Modena based company, which already had a Bentley Mulsanne Coupe, a Porsche GT3 Targa and the very remarkable X-Raid in its portfolio, showed the first sketches of Project Panter. The Panther (not to be confused with the English car maker) is in fact Ares’ modern interpretation of the iconic De Tomaso Pantera from the early seventies. This car was actually presented at the beginning of February. And now we see the Panther creating a scent for the first time.

Ares Design has taken a Lamborghini Huracán as the basis for the Panther, an Italian with a V10, who of course has radically adjusted it. This means that you can immediately find a big difference with its predecessor. The original Pantera wore an Italian carriage from Ghia, designed by Tom Tjaarda, and had an American V8.

One of the most significant characteristics of the Ares Panther is its voice. The sound from the naturally breathable V10 is nothing less than a roar.

Matteo Vezzani

In this case, the carbon fiber and aluminum of the Lamborghini Huracán are hidden under the classic appearance. Behind the front seats is a revised version of Lambo’s V10. The 5.2-liter ten-cylinder was a 5.6-liter and he now produces at least 660 hp and 560 Nm. Ares does not exclude that the assets will grow slightly before the final Ares Panther is unveiled at the end of the summer.

Ares put the back in the new with modern lamps, more details and more sharp lines. The front is, apart from two LED strips, almost indistinguishable from the old one. Including the folding headlights! That is the advantage of being a coachbuilder: the ban on blow headlights is (apparently) not applicable.

Behold the resurrection of the blow headlights. A small moment of triumph for the distinctive feature, which was condemned unfairly and too hastily to the history books.

Car manufacturers are not allowed to fit blow-head lights on new cars due to pedestrian safety. Presumably because Ares Design is a coachbuilder, these rules do not apply. The car on which the Panther is based already has a type approval.

Ares Design says that the car is in the final phase of its development. Only 21 Ares Panthers will leave the factory. The price starts at 515,000 euros. All production slots for this year are already filled. And since it takes more than 24 weeks to build one car, you better get along.

 

 

 

 

New Pantera by Ares Design

Ares Design, from Modena, Italy, has released the first computer drawings of Project Panther, a car with which the design house wants to bring the legendary De Tomaso Pantera to the 21st century.

Ares Design is mainly known as the company of former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, a top man under whose leadership the Bentley Mulsanne Coupe and the frankly bizarre Mercedes-Benz G based Ares X-Raid where recently built. The Italian-based company from Modena now announces that it is working on Project Panther, a modern interpretation of the legendary De Tomaso Pantera, an Italian muscle bundle with an American heart that appeared on the road for the first time in 1970.

Where the original Pantera (designed by Tom Tjaarda for Ghia) brought together the best of two continents, Project Panther on paper is entirely Italians. Instead of an American V8, this upcoming supercar has the same 5.2-liter V10 as the Lamborghini’s Huracan. In fact, under the skin it is simply a Huracán. That means: four-wheel drive, a seven-speed automatic transmission and a base consisting of aluminum and carbon fiber.

The first cars must be delivered by mid-2018. Prices and specifications will follow later. It is known that the first two cars were sold in advance. Soon more about the Ares De Tomaso Pantera here on Yakymour …