The $100,000 Rossion Q1 is a worthy competitor to the Ferrari F430 -- for $150,000 less. (STEVEN COLE SMITH, ORLANDO SENTINEL)
POMPANO BEACH
On the surface, it sounds suspicious enough: A pair of automotive entrepreneurs, Ian Grunes and Dean Rosen, have developed an exotic, two-seat sports car that delivers Ferrari-like looks and performance for about $100,000, which is about $150,000 less than the slightly slower Ferrari F430.
And they are selling it from their new headquarters in Pompano Beach, located in a big, black-white-and-pink block building that backs up to Interstate 95. A car company based in Florida? Really?
But having driven the Rossion Q1 — and, for that matter, a Ferrari F430 — these guys, this company and their car are for real.
The story began about a decade ago, when Grunes and Rosen began selling a similar car called the Noble from their then-home base near Cincinnati. The Noble was designed by British racer and engineer Lee Noble and built at the Superformance factory in South Africa. Grunes and Rosen acquired the rights to sell the Noble in the U.S. and were happy filling the very small niche of providing a vehicle that was essentially a street-legal race car.
Then word came that the Noble would be discontinued. Grunes and Rosen acquired worldwide rights to the car and began creating a replacement that would begin with the bare bones of the Noble but be more refined and more luxurious, with features such as leather upholstery, air conditioning, even an optional navigation system. Some potential Noble customers had been turned off by the car's utter absence of creature comforts, and the new Rossion Q1 — the name comes from Rosen's last name and Ian Grunes' first name — would lack nothing in that area.
They would continue to build the car in South Africa, though it would not be a Noble. "We made hundreds of changes," Grunes said. "A lot more than Superformance was expecting, I think." Only the windshield and other bits and pieces are held over from the last-generation Noble.
One thing that did not change: the lack of features such as air bags, stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes. But aren't some of those required on new vehicles sold in the U.S.? Yes, and that's where the Rossion Q1, and the Noble before it, slips into the country through a loophole.
In some countries, including much of Europe, the opportunity exists for very small, limited-production manufacturers to obtain a governmental exemption from most safety-feature requirements. That is not available in the U.S. So the Rossion is shipped from the factory in South Africa to Charleston, S.C., and trucked to the Pompano Beach facility with no engine or transmission.
Once the car arrives, and is sold, Rossion will help the new owner arrange for the installation of a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, 450-horsepower V-6 engine and a six-speed manual transmission at a partner facility. That way, the Q1 can be titled and insured as a "kit car," built in part under the guidance of the owner — who, says Rosen, "essentially acts as his own contractor." Kit cars don't have to have air bags, for instance. But the owner still ends up with a brand-new car, under warranty.
The Rossion Q1 made its world debut last year in Orlando at the Festival of Speed car show, and the company has sold a couple of dozen, though there has been no advertising, no media attention. A major car magazine recently tested the Rossion Q1 for an upcoming story, and the test results were impressive: 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, and 0 to 100 mph in 7.8 seconds.
So it's fast, but how is it to drive?
That's the biggest surprise of all. Once you slide behind the wheel — climbing into the Q1 isn't like getting into a Buick, but it doesn't require the gymnastics of, say, entering a Lotus Exige — there's room for two large-sized adults. At 6 feet tall, I had to pull the driver's seat forward. Headroom is considerable. The Q1's engine is behind the seats, so there is no trunk space, and the hood opens to the radiator, so there is no luggage space up there, either. All that's available is some room down low, behind the seats. Pack light.
Pedals are small and at first, anyway, best driven wearing only socks until you get a feel for them. Otherwise, business as usual: The air conditioning worked very well during a long stop-and-go traffic session; seats are very comfortable; and rear visibility, as with most sports cars like this, is lousy.
Once you reach some open road, though, this is a different car. The engine, a version of which is used in some Ford and Jaguar products, feels like it's more than 450 horsepower, due largely to the Q1's ultralight weight of less than 2,500 pounds. The six-speed Getrag manual transmission works well and is spaced perfectly. Steering is light and direct, handling is phenomenal, brakes are astounding. This is a very solid, well-executed car, capable of tearing up a race track — which was expected — or happily commuting back and forth to work each day, which was not.
Prices begin, with engine and transmission, at about $100,000, and top out at about $110,000 with various options.
source: orlandosentinel
