Swiss enter supercar arena

With its rigidly policed roads, Switzerland isn’t the most likely home for a new supercar producer, but that hasn’t deterred Berne Beck Engineering & Composits (sic) GmbH, which has released details of its £305,000 Beck LM 800.

Driving the Beck's rear wheels through a sequential seven-speeder is an MTM-tuned twin-turbo 4.2-litre V8 of Audi origin. Producing a claimed 641bhp in standard form (and ‘up to 1000bhp’ in uprated guise), it promises to propel the LM 800 to a top speed of 218mph, with 0-62mph taking just 3.0sec and 0-120mph a mere 7.0sec.

The Beck's performance – and its steep price – can be attributed to the lavish methods employed to keep its kerb weight down to 900kg while making it rigid and crash-regulation compliant. Much like an F1 car, it features a central monocoque constructed from a composite of Kevlar, carbonfibre and aluminium, a mix that is also used for several bodywork components. The wheels and the subframes for the engine and suspension are milled from solid aluminium billets for extra strength and are then subjected to a surface treatment before being powder-coated for corrosion protection.

Beck describes the suspension as an ‘electronically controlled active chassis’ and, despite being touted as a lightweight machine for trackday use, the LM's interior is fitted with a driver’s airbag as standard, with side and passenger airbags optional.