Aspid Invictus Is One Mean Mother

When you think of supercar production giants, many tend to be based in the home of automotive perfection. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati... the Italian list goes on. But what about different European countries who are trying their hand in creating a work of performance art? Many have tried, but this new, small brand is the latest in attempting to make you get out your wallet and increase spend on your private Shell fuel card.

Spain isn't really the first place you’d think of when it comes to supercars and sports cars, but a small and ambitious company going by the name of Aspid are really pushing to get their brand into the public conscience.

This is not a car marque that has called it a day after the first effort and is currently riding a PR storm with their second creation, the GT-21 Invictus. Aspid are promising to offer the world something completely unique. And they’ve not disappointed.

Aspid’s first fore into the land of the sports car was the Supersport (SS) back in 2009, which surfaced to rave reviews and the car impressed various motoring hacks with its refreshing styling and drivability. Looks wise, many compared it to the Caterham Super Seven thanks to the SS’s open-wheel layout, but it packed so much more technology and a cabin that was like nothing anybody had seen before.

In keeping with the open-wheel direction, the Invictus clams to be the first ever GT open-wheel 2+2 in history, which in some part is true, but the Invictus’ design would have many arguing that it’s more of a semi open-wheeled vehicle. The brainchild of former SEAT, Prodrive and Ralliart designer Ignacio Fernandez, the Invictus houses a 450bhp BMW V8 and rear-wheel drive through the choice of either a 7-speed double-clutch transmission or a 6-speed manual. Those figures combined with a dry weight of 990kg, and you can expect to be going very fast very quickly. The Invictus also boasts a 0-62mph time of sub-3secs.

A chassis made completely out of carbon fibre helps keep the weight down, which has also helped improve durability through forces being able to be spread evenly through the frame of the car. As always with a car like this though, fuel costs will likely be high, with a fuel tank of 75 litres which could be bigger for a self-proclaimed GT vehicle. But if you can afford this car, then you can probably afford the petrol bill.

Going down a slightly unique route once more, the Invictus’ brake set-up sees a twin brake disc system incorporated that work as strongly as carbon ceramics, but will have immediate bite from the word go and do not have to warm up to work to their full potential.

Another key feature is the steering wheel’s Unidrive implementation which gives the driver the option of what gauges they wish to see though a digital display fitted to the steering wheel. The system weighs just a third of a conventional unit and has the potential to house special apps tailored to the owner and can be customised at will.

Based on their last efforts, we can be optimistic that Aspid’s new kid on the block will have at least moderate success and the owner is anticipating sales of no more than 250 a year. The Spanish firm can also be encouraged by others that have been unique and original in their approach to the sports car.

Sweden’s Koenigsegg has certainly made more than its mark on the industry and are making further progress with its latest Agera range, following the success of the CC variant. The Netherland’s favourite car manufacturer Spyker have also kept their foot on the pedal and still manage to get themselves noticed with new models as they continue to grow. Even Slovakia has given supercar design a go through a man named Aljoša Tušek and his Tushek company that has been going since 2004, but has struggled to get off the ground until now with his Renovatio T500, working on a very small scale and isn’t expecting to push sale figures past five cars for the year.

After the success of the SS, Aspid should be able to look to a positive future, but will need to be wary of the pitfalls of being a small car manufacturer in this financial environment. There will always be crazy-rich individuals that will buy such cars, but Aspid will need to keep on their toes to be able to offer a vehicle that will appeal to their extravagant demands.

Sponsor disclosure: Sam Bisby writes for Chooseafuelcard.com and their various fuel card services that include Shell, BP and Esso.