Chinese and Italian automotive minds have united with ex-Nissan designer Samuel Chuffart to create a design firm called Icona, who have just unveiled the Icona Vulcano Supercar Concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. Looking a bit like the love child between a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Icona Vulcano can be optioned with two different engines.
As is all the rage these days, supercars must be matched with a hybrid electric power source, so the first is a front-mounted V12 engine mated with an electric motor to deliver a claimed (and purely theoretical 735 kW). The second engine for the Icona Vulcano is a compact, simple V6 petrol engine, which is said to deliver 588 kW thanks to a similar pairing to electric power.
While that may sound like pie in the sky thinking for another concept supercar that’ll never see the light of day, Icona say the engines for the Vulcano are courtesy of motorsport engineer Claudio Lombardi, who was responsible for Lancia in WRC championships and Ferrari’s in F1 during the 1990’s.
Icona are saying the Vulcano will be offered in two different specifications, the first of which is ‘H-Turismo’ and is the road-going model with the 6.0-litre V12 and rear-wheel drive, while the racing version will be the ‘H-Competizione’ powered by the smaller twin turbocharged V6 and all-wheel drive courtesy of the electric motor assistance.
Surely the most important thing about a pinup supercar is how fast it can go. On the performance front, Icona claim the Vulcano will sprint to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds flat and the top speed is 350 km/h. Pretty standard fair for a 21st century hybrid supercar. Will it ever make it into production? We’re guessing its ‘Aikona’ for the Icona.
