Arash AF-10 supercar (2010) unveiled

Meet the Arash AF-10, a new British supercar launched hot on the heels of the Noble M600. And if you thought the £200k Noble was expensive, wait until you hear the price of the AF-10: £320,000.

These are the first, early pictures of the AF-10, and now that you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, let’s find out what the price of decent house buys you.

You read that right – the AF-10 is £320k. The reason for the cost is the carbonfibre body and chassis – Noble M600s are carbon-skinned, but use a steel chassis. Arash has cut the cost of a carbon chassis, and the time needed to build one, though as just a handful of AF-10s will be built each year the price remains high.

Horsepower is provided by the venerable 7.0-litre V8 engine found in the Corvette Z06, and it spits its gases out through an exhaust system with active valves so it’s quiet one moment and NASCAR-like the next. Power goes up from 498bhp to 550bhp, there’s also 465lb ft at 5000rpm, and the engine drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual Graziano gearbox.

In the future there’ll be an AF-10S with a supercharged and intercooled version of the 7.0-litre V8 with 800bhp and 553lb ft – Arash isn’t planning to use the ZR1’s supercharged motor. And of course a four-figure output version is planned, with 1001bhp and 700lb ft…

Yes. Only three percent of parts have been carried over from other cars, the wheels are 19-inch front and 20-inch rear, and the suspension is double-wishbones all round, designed for compliance rather than track work. And Loris Bicocchi, the man who helped develop the Koenigsegg, the Veyron and the KTM X-Bow has been signed up to do the development work, which will start in 2010.

Just 70 cars are expected to be built over the next five years, and a smaller-but-still-exclusive AF-8 version is also planned. It's the brainchild of Arash Farboud, who originally created the Farboud GTS that has morphed into the Farbio.

By Gareth Evans