RML Group has shared an update on the RML Short Wheelbase—a Ferrari 250 GT SWB tribute car it has been working on for 3 years. The company has finished building a pre-production model that’ll probably serve as a demo car for the order holders and subsequently a press car for a select few journalists.
The carbon-composite body of the first example is finished in some kind of a dark blue. The paintwork’s rich lustre is thanks to the layers of a special carbon primer, a regular primer and a silver base coat. In case you missed the story last time, the underpinnings come from a Ferrari 550. Despite having a light-weight re-construction, RML estimates the tribute car’s kerb weight to be about 1,700 kg (3,748 lbs), but it’s probably something to do with safety. Speaking of the safety of the carbon-composite construction, RML said that its “own roof-crush test produced figures well within the permissible displacement after a 23.9 kN load was reached in a roll-over simulation.” But you’ll be happy to know that the tribute car is gonna be lighter than the donor car, the 550.
The 18-inch spoked rims are wrapped with wide Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Braking duties are handled by discs measuring 330 mm at the front and 310 mm at the rear. As for suspension, RML said the following:
While the Short Wheelbase retains the 550’s wheelbase dimension and suspension pick-up points, its weight, aerodynamics and overall balance are significantly different. As a result, Nic’s (Nic Rutherford, Project Lead) team swapped the 550’s active Bilstein dampers for bespoke passive Öhlins units tuned to suit the new car’s dynamic brief. Springs rates and anti-roll bar (ARB) thicknesses were also developed specifically for the lower-weight Short Wheelbase, along with a reduction in ride height for improved control.
We don’t have the interior pictures of the pre-production model just yet, but you get a good idea from the renderings above. There’s not gonna be any plastics. Most of the touchpoints if not all, will be either machined aluminium, glass or leather. Also, there’s gonna be an extensive choice of leather, Alcantara or fabric interior. Samples are being produced in black, tan, grey, red and blue, with diamond, ribbed or perforated patterns.
Powering the RML Short Wheelbase is a naturally aspirated 5.5-litre Ferrari V12 engine that pumps out 357 kW (485 metric hp) and 568 Nm (419 lb-ft) of torque. The output figures are the same as those in the Ferrari 550. A 6-speed manual gearbox drives the rear wheels. RML estimates a 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) sprint time of 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph (290 km/h).
RML is building only 30 units with each taking around 6 months to complete. Around 70% of those are going outside of the UK, of which, a “majority” are expected to head to North America. Price? Well, it starts at £1.35 million plus local taxes.
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