The 2016 Top Marques show in Monaco is over and these are some of the highlights.
It’s been described as the “world’s ultimate luxury car show”, the event where potential supercar buyers are given the opportunity to test drive their next purchase in one of the most iconic F1 GP circuits has gathered once again some of the fastest, most luxurious and plain weird machinery in the world.
The show featured the global debut of the ArcaBoard, a flying hovercraft that can levitate up to 25cm with the use of 36 electric fans that produce 272hp. Fans of Back To The Future should know though that the ArcaBoard can last up to six minutes of operation and up to a top speed of 12.5mph. Still this is probably the first practical iteration of a hoverboard, albeit one that weighs 82kg (180lbs).
Moving on to four-wheeled exhibits, Apollo brought their all-new Arrow which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. The 986hp supercar features perhaps one of the most impressive and original designs we’ve seen recently and we can’t wait to see it reaching production. Apollo also brought their previous and also outrageous Gumpert model, essentially a race car that somehow got the license to travel on public roads.
Icona was also there, bringing their Vulcano Titanium, a one-off creation with the bodywork made out of naked titanium. It took more than 10,000 hours for the body to be hand-crafted and the result is impressive overall. The guys responsible for it claim that it can be tuned to produce well over 1,000hp, with 0-60mph coming in 2.8 seconds and 0-120mph in 8.8 seconds.
Donkervoort was also there with the D8 GTO, one of the fastest (and probably scariest) cars in the world. Using the classic Lotus Seven recipe, the Dutch company is using an Audi-sourced turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine with the power output ranging from 340 to 380hp.
The beautiful Effeffe Berlinetta was there too; the vintage-looking sports car pays homage to the Italian GTs of the 60s, wearing a gorgeous hand-crafted bodywork over an also handmade tubular spaceframe. Power comes from an Alfa Romeo 2-litre twin cam four-cylinder engine which is fed by two Weber carburetors for a total of 180hp.
This year’s event had also many Bond cars, including the Aston Martin DB5 and DB10, the Jaguar C-X75, the Range Rover Sport SVR and the Land Rover Defender.
Kahn also took the opportunity to showcase the Vengeance, a rebodied Aston Martin DB9 inspired by the Vanquish and other Astons of the era. And for those of you who spotted Eddie Jordan in the gallery below, yes, this is an actual jetpack he’s wearing. Built by Martin, it’s said to be the world’s first practical jetpack with a range of up to 50km (31 miles), a flight time of up to 30 minutes and a recommended cruising height of 500ft.