German sports car manufacturer
Apollo Automobil
(previously known as
Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur
) is a German
sports car
manufacturer headquartered in
Denkendorf
. Roland Gumpert, who founded Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur in 2004, once held the position of director of
Audi Sport
.
[1]
[2]
Under his management, Audi won a total of 25
World Rally Championship
rallies and four World Rally Championship titles.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The two Gumpert Apollo Prototypes with an
F-4 Phantom II
fighter jet
In 2001, Roland Gumpert proposed a new generation of
sports car
, one that would be race-ready yet also street-legal. After Gumpert returned to Germany from China at the end of 2001, his former colleague at
Audi
and founder of
Motoren Technik Mayer
, Roland Meyer,
[4]
asked him to assist in building a prototype sports car. Audi approved Gumpert's involvement in this project on the condition that the new sports car would be a series product and not a
prototype
.
[5]
The company was founded in 2004 under the name "GMG Sportwagenmanufaktur
Altenburg GmbH". The technical guidelines were defined and the first designs of the car were drawn by Marco Vanetta. Upon Vanetta's completion of this process, the first 1:4
scale model
of Gumpert's car was produced in 2002.
Gumpert continued with the development of the car now called the
Apollo
, along with the
Technical University of Munich
and the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. They assisted him with the
construction work
,
computer simulations
, and
wind tunnel tests
. This research and development helped form the blueprint for the first full-scale model. Finally two prototype cars were constructed.
[3]
[6]
The production of the Apollo started in October 2005.
[7]
Many variants of the Apollo were introduced throughout its production cycle.
On 27 July 2008 an Apollo Sport was featured on the UK automotive show
Top Gear
. One of the presenters,
Richard Hammond
and professional driver
the Stig
drove the car. With a lap time of 1:17.1, the Apollo Sport became the new leader on the
Power Lap
Board,
[8]
0.2 seconds faster than the former lap leader, the
Ascari A10
. The Apollo was faster than the
Bugatti Veyron
and the
Pagani Zonda
around the
Top Gear
test track. It was later beaten with a time of 01:16.8 by the
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
.
In 2011, the company introduced a concept car in collaboration with
Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera
, the Gumpert Tornante.
[9]
The car was not put into production.
In August 2013, the company filed for bankruptcy and went into liquidation after an anonymous backer pulled out of a deal that could have saved the company.
[10]
[11]
In January 2016, the company was purchased by Hong Kong consortium Ideal Team Venture which is also owner of the
De Tomaso
marque. The company was renamed Apollo Automobil GmbH after the acquisition by its new owner.
[12]
Apollo Arrow
at the
2016 Geneva Motor Show
At the March 2016
Geneva Motor Show
, Apollo unveiled the
Arrow
, a sports car that is powered by a
twin-turbocharged
4.0-litre
V8 engine
rated at 986 hp (1,000 PS; 735 kW). The Arrow can accelerate from 0?100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds, and has a projected top speed of 360 km/h (224 mph).
[13]
Intensa Emozione
on track
Gumpert Tornante
In November 2016, the company announced that former owner and founder Roland Gumpert was no longer associated with the company or its current or future projects and also announced a new model (project name ‘Titan’) would be unveiled at the June 2017
Goodwood Festival of Speed
.
[14]
The new model is named
Intensa Emozione
(Intense Emotion in Italian) and is powered by the 6.3 L
naturally-aspirated
V12 engine
. The car has radical styling inspired by insects in nature. The Intensa Emozione is built in collaboration with HWA AG, the same company involved in the construction of the
Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR
.
[15]
[16]
Apollo Project EVO, a new addition to the range of Apollo hypercars was presented on stage at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November 2021.
[17]
Development partners
[
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]
Apollo collaborated with several business and technical partners, including the following:
[2]
[18]
The Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur Factory
- Autotecnica Motori (engine development)
- Apollo Germany Limited (paints and repairs)
- ATS Group (development and production of wheels)
- BFFT (automotive electronics)
- Bosch Group (automobile components and systems, including
ABS
and
TCS
)
- BREMBO (brakes)
- Eibach (sports
chassis
development)
- HS Genion (
automotive engineering
)
- KBF Kabelbaumfertigung (the Apollo's cabling, measuring 4.2 km)
- KW Automotive (sport
suspension
systems)
- Mero TSK (
Mengeringhausen
tube system)
- Pirelli (road and racing tyres)
- TRW (
active and passive
vehicle safety systems
)
- Technical University of Munich (virtual
prototyping
, vibration technology and driver-vehicle interaction)
- WIDOS (
welding plastic
tubing
and moulded parts)
- Contrust (optimized
risk management
)
- Evolution MotorSports (US development partner and distribution)
- GTE Engineering (development and production of kevlar clutch facing)
- HWA AG (development and final details for the Intensa Emozione)
- HiPhi (HiPhi A)
Motorsport
[
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]
The Apollo Hybrid race car
During April 2005, the Apollo made its racing debut in the Divinol Cup. This Apollo was driven by the Belgian race driver Ruben Maes. Maes finished third on the
Hockenheimring
race track.
[2]
Three years later Gumpert announced that they would enter a
hybrid electric
version of the Apollo in the 2008
24 Hours Nurburgring
, driven by 2004 winner
Dirk Muller
and former
Formula One
racer
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
. Three months passed between the first discussions and the finished hybrid Apollo. The Apollo was driven in the 24 Hours Nurburgring in May 2008. The hybrid Apollo can deliver up to 630 hp (470 kW; 639 PS), powered with a 3.3 litre V8 bi-turbo engine coupled with a 100 kW (136 PS; 134 hp) electric motor. The car has the ability to recharge the battery under braking.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Dream on ...(Audi Sport the production version of Apollo supercar)"
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-03-27
. Retrieved
2009-01-05
.
- ^
a
b
c
"gumpert_english"
(PDF)
.
gumpert.de
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2011-07-16
. Retrieved
2009-01-07
.
- ^
a
b
"Gumpert Car"
.
x3mcars
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-09-15
. Retrieved
2009-01-05
.
- ^
Jeremy Ethan Ibrahim (2020-07-26).
"The Story of Gumpert - Rocket Science"
.
DriveTribe
. Archived from
the original
on 2020-06-07
. Retrieved
2020-05-04
.
- ^
"ATTACK! The GUMPERT
apollo
is in the fast lane"
(PDF)
.
M5Board
. Dec 15, 2008
. Retrieved
2009-01-06
.
- ^
"Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur - History"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-10-07
. Retrieved
2009-01-06
.
- ^
"Doc1280"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
2009-01-06
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"BBC - Top Gear - Power Laps"
. Retrieved
2009-01-08
.
- ^
Yanca, Jon (2011-03-03).
"Gumpert Tornante by Touring Makes Geneva Debut"
.
Car and Driver
. Retrieved
2021-01-06
.
- ^
Hayward, Matthew (2013-08-30).
"Gumpert goes bankrupt"
. Retrieved
2013-09-01
.
- ^
Ballaban, Michael (2013-09-01).
"Gumpert Goes Bust With Bankruptcy"
. Retrieved
2013-09-01
.
- ^
Haupt, Andreas (2016-01-05).
"Neuer Name, neuer Apollo"
[Gumpert Reboot: New name, new Apollo].
Auto Motor und Sport
(in German). Motor Presse Stuttgart GmbH & Co. KG
. Retrieved
2016-01-06
.
- ^
Joseph, Noah (2016-03-02).
"Apollo Arrow rises from Gumpert's ashes with 1,000 hp"
.
Autoblog
. Retrieved
2016-03-02
.
- ^
Zoltan, Bogdan (2016-11-11).
"Apollo Founder Roland Gumpert "Decommissioned" From The Company He Created"
.
Carscoops
. Retrieved
2017-02-12
.
- ^
"Apollo Automobil Partners With Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Creator HWA to Finish the IE Hypercar"
.
TheDrive
. Retrieved
2018-06-12
.
- ^
"Apollo IE"
.
Apollo
. Retrieved
2017-10-28
.
- ^
"Apollo Project EVO"
.
Ideenion
. Retrieved
2023-07-28
.
- ^
"Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur - Partner"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-10-07
. Retrieved
2009-01-05
.
- ^
Anderson, Brad (October 22, 2020).
"De Tomaso Relocating To America To Build Its New P72 Sports Car"
.
CARSCOOPS
. Retrieved
November 11,
2020
.
External links
[
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]