Meet Italy’s take on the Chevrolet Corvette: $900,000-plus supercar
The Chevrolet Corvette is regarded as a cheaper alternative to Europe’s high-priced supercars, but Italian design house Ares Modena has now turned it into a high-price luxury model.
A niche Italian automotive coach-builder has unveiled a new Chevrolet Corvette-based supercar – with an eye-watering price to rival Europe’s most iconic marques.
Built by Ares Modena, the supercar is simply called the ‘S1’ and is essentially a rebodied Chevrolet Corvette C8 Stingray, albeit with a significantly revised look on the inside and out.
Available either as a roofless roadster or with classic Mercedes-Benz SL-style ‘gullwings’, the Modena S1 offers a completely different design to the targa-top Corvette, not least of which by trading the Chevrolet’s angular lines for a more rounded design.
However, the Italian coach-built supercar boasts more downforce than the Corvette due to its front splitter and rear diffuser, as well as active aerodynamics to keep it planted in the corners.
Inside, the Modena S1 is fitted with a handful of carry-over pieces of equipment from the Corvette C8 – such as its square steering wheel, drive mode selector and air vents – but Ares has given it a new-look dashboard and an upgraded 9.5-inch central infotainment screen.
The passenger also has their own screen, measuring 9.0 inches and displaying driving information such as speed, g-forces and engine temperatures.
Powering the Ares Modena S1 is the Corvette’s 6.2-litre ‘LT2’ V8 engine, albeit with undisclosed modifications which pump its power output up to 447kW (600hp) from 369kW – though torque remains unchanged at 637Nm.
Drive is sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, with a claimed 0-100km/h time of approximately three seconds – before pushing onto a top speed of 296km/h, about 16km/h slower than the Corvette.
According to CarBuzz, prices for the Ares Modena S1 will start from $US600,000 ($AU933,000) – topping even the Ferrari SF90 and Lamborghini Aventador, which are priced from less than $US520,000 ($AU827,000).
In Australia, the Chevrolet Corvette is priced from $175,000 plus on-road costs (2LT coupe) to $336,000 plus on-roads for the new Z06 3LZ.
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