Stunning open-top Italian supercar
Virtual canopy for fresh air without despair
A coachbuilder called Ares Design has put together a mid-engine supercar with a V8 that’ll rev to nearly 9,000 rpm. And now they’ve cut the top off so they can build 24 of the S1 Project Spyder.
Ares is the latest project of former Lotus Cars boss Danny Bahar, an Italian firm that’s made a modern Pantera based on a Huracan, but also is working on their own from-scratch cars, with the first dubbed the S1.
This is the second design for Ares, a mid-engine spyder boasting a naturally aspirated V8 that makes 715 hp and can rev to 8,800 rpm, sending that power to an eight-speed dual-clutch and the rear wheels.
Cutting the windscreen from the car, as well as the roof, instead, the spyder has a pair of wind deflectors designed to make what the company calls a “virtual canopy.” The wind is forced over the heads of driver and passenger, keeping the breeze (and hopefully everything else) out of their faces.
The absence of a top also lets Ares run the carbon bodywork into the cabin, adding elegance and poise to the design, and showing off the hand-crafted interior and its Napa and Alcantara trimmings.
Ares had already said that the fixed-roof S1 would come with Magnetic Ride Control as well as aluminum axles and a double-wishbone suspension layout. The Spyder should be equipped the same way. Order books are open, though Ares didn’t give a production start date. The coupe is set to begin construction in January.
