08 May 2012

Fahrradi Farfalla FFX - first ever zero emission supercar?

From the dramatic body proportion to the one of the most sensual curvaceous styling surfaces, Fahrradi Farfalla FFX looks every bit as the the Italian supercar at its best. Surely this thing can keep up with Ferrari 458 Italia on the straight and blew the Lamborghini Gallardo in fine mountain long sweeper and overtake the Audi R8 at the tight chicane of Monaco. Until you see the width (or the lack of it) of the tyres and you'll sense something is not right.

Produced by the same producer who came up with the Ferdinand GT3 RS which looks like the Porsche 911 but weights in mere 100kg and has no engine for economic reason. I guess every material engineer would even kill for the any innovation that can make a usable supercar that weights as much as its driver. Same stories here.

Underneath the svelte Ferrari-inspired looking exterior body, lies, well, a bicycle. The Fahrradi nomenclature is actually derived from Fahrrad which is bicycle in German speaks, while 'i' was said to be derived from the Apple society. The minimization of inertia is derived with the chassis constructed with light tubes and bonded together with adhesive. 
Means of propulsion is provided by two man, while the quoted power is unsurprisingly two men, basically a portion of horsepower. To make the matter more interesting, the rotational motion of the paddler not only translated into the forward thrust, but also connected to the gearing that flap the gullwing door, akin to the wing beat of a butterfly. This gives the "car" its second name ie Farfalla that is butterfly in Italian

The manufacturer has gone to the extent of creating a promotional video for the FFX, adopting the same theme as the Schuey-driven Mercedes SLS inside a tunnel whereby the car sticks to the roof due to the sheer downforce. More photos and a video can be found after the jump.







Video

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