Established in 1934, KTM is one of the world’s most renown motorcycle manufacturers, with products ranging from street bikes to off-road and racing two-wheelers. Recent years, however, saw KTM enter sports car manufacturing, giving the auto industry a solid competitors for the likes of the Caterham Seven. Thus the X-Bow was born, an ultra-light vehicle with a turbocharged Audi engine mounted behind its seats. Weighing less than 1,800 pounds, the X-Bow spawned many iterations and even a couple of race cars, including an FIA-homologated GT4 track car. In 2015, seven years since its inception, the X-Bow enters a new era as KTM, together with Reiter Engineering, is developing a new racer that will become available to customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Unlike its GT4-spec predecessor, the still-unnamed race car features a closed cockpit and a conventional hood atop its mid-mounted engine. The track-exclusive machine remains recognizable as an X-Bow when viewed from the front, but the concept is entirely different from what we’ve seen from this company in the past. Details are rather scarce as of this writing, with no specs and just one teaser photo depicting the vehicle from above. However, KTM did announce the race car is being developed in conjunction with Reiter Engineering, and that’s pretty big news.
If you’re not familiar with the racing scene, Reiter Engineering is responsible for the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 and the Murcielago GT1 race car, among other vehicles. The German team even went so far as to create a GT3 version of the Chevrolet Camaro. Reiter is also one of the very few racing crews to develop a track version of the Lamborghini Diablo. Need I say more?
I do actually, because Reiter Engineering is also the company responsible for the KTM X-Bow GT4, which won the Supersport category for lighter cars against competition from Donkervoort and Lotus. There’s no word on the purpose of this new race car outside the desire to deliver a "racing car that can compete in international races," but there is a possibility this X-Bow is being built to GT4 specs.
We’ll be right back with more info as soon as we get our hands on it so make sure you stay tuned to TopSpeed.
Click past the jump to read more about the KTM X-Bow Racecar.
KTM X-Bow Racecar originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 13 November 2014 12:00 EST.
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