Britain’s new 200mph supercar

After eight long years of development behind closed doors, the wraps have come off the world’s latest supercar contender: the Keating Supercar. To be built here in the UK, the car is the culmination of a long-held dream by engineer Anthony Keating to build a supercar that possesses scintillating performance but is also easy to own.

CAD drawings for the car were first created eight years ago and a company in the Philippines translated these into the first styling buck and moulds. While this was going on, back in the UK the mechanicals were finalised and tested beneath the bodywork of an Ultima.

A second prototype arrived in 2003, with a carbonfibre chassis tub and shell and a twin-turbocharged version of a 6-litre V8 built by Nelson Race Engines in the US. Prototype three was shown at Goodwood last year, but it was a static display vehicle only.

Now Keating is ready to reveal the first productionised road-going version of its car, to be known as the Keating SKR. The entry-level model will be fitted with a normally aspirated 6-litre GM LS2 V8 producing 400bhp, while above this will sit a version fitted with the 500bhp 7-litre LS7 V8 from the Corvette Z06. For customers wanting even more performance, supercharged versions of both these engines will be available, producing 520 and 650bhp respectively. Performance and prices can be seen in the table.

The engines will be mated to a derivative of the ‘G50’ Porsche transaxle, with final ratio choice being down to the customer, and there will be a multitude of other options, including a choice of a steel or carbonfibre chassis, GRP or carbonfibre bodies, different seats, ABS, race-spec brakes, digital or analogue instrument packs, and so on.

Weight for a normally aspirated Keating SKR with the steel spaceframe comes in at 1190kg, while the lightweight carbonfibre version, called the TKR, will weigh around 995kg.

The factory hopes to build between five and ten cars a year. As Keating Supercars is an unknown brand, Anthony Keating has plans for two high-speed record attempts as a way of establishing what the company stands for. We’ll bring you first driving impressions next issue. 0-60mph   Top speed   PriceSKR400   4.0sec   160mph   £85,000SKR500   3.8sec   180mph   £105,000SKR520   3.7sec   190mph   £105,000SKR650   3.5sec   205mph   £125,000