The Hellenic Republic doesn’t have the automotive heritage of its Mediterranean neighbor Italy. Over the years, however, nameplates such as the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, Opel Kadett, and Mazda 323 were manufactured in Greece.
Independent efforts such as the Scavas sports car didn’t cut the mustard, though. NAMCO, which stands for National Motor Company of Greece, doesn’t count either because their Pony multi-purpose vehicle isn’t an all-original design.
This gets us to Spyros Panopoulos, an automotive engineer and racing enthusiast who’s currently developing Project Chaos. Described as an “ultra car” by its maker, the 100-percent Greek design is also hyped as “automotive perfection” even though tastes differ from customer to customer and perfection is a vague term.
Chaos still is in its infancy, but the teasers that Spyros has published so far are nothing short of enthralling. The silhouette of the mystery vehicle stays true to hypercar royalty from Ferrari and McLaren, but the finer details such as the exhaust finishers and brake calipers beggar belief.
3D printed "anadiaplasi" titanium wheels are highlights in their own right, measuring 21 by 9 inches up front and 22 by 13 inches out back. Not only are they hollow, but they’re "the lightest metallic wheels on the market" according to Spyros. The 3D printed ceramic pistons can also take the abuse of 12,000 rpm and 3,000 horsepower, which is very impressive indeed.
Panopoulos has also offered a sneak peek of Project Chaos in terms of on-paper specifications, starting with the 4.0-liter engine. The V10 with billet-aluminum heads and titanium camshafts in its top form features carbon-fiber compressor wheels and covers for the twin-turbo system as well as a titanium-and-ceramic compound for the turbine wheels. The suck-squeeze-bang-blow is set to all wheels with the help of a dual-clutch transmission with eight forward gears.
“Augmented reality” for the two-seat cockpit, double wishbone suspension all around, Zylon for the monocoque chassis, and carbon-kevlar body panels are also listed, along with titanium-and-magnesium mechanical components. As for when we'll see the Chaos move under its own power, all we know thus far is the year - 2021.
"The fastest moving production car in the world is already real," said Spyros Panopoulos Automotive in the description of the video at the end of this story. With a power-to-weight ratio of 2.3 metric ponies per kilogram, you can also expect 1.8 seconds from zero to 100 kph (62 mph) and a top speed of 500 kph (310 mph).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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