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Identity parade

A mid-engined prototype with complex parentage, the 480bhp V8-powered Identity i1 unveiled at Geneva last month was designed for Identity Cars Engineering by H2R Design and built by Mazel; all three are Spanish companies.

30th March 2006

Fourth collaborator in the Identity project is Italian composite specialist ATR Group, which contributed its innovative new 'off-the-peg' carbonfibre spaceframe tub. ATR produces the tubs for the Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari Enzo, Maserati MC12 and Bugatti Veyron, amongst others, and is hoping that its 'Composite Space Frame Technology' will allow low-volume specialists, like the fledgling Identity, to benefit from that experience without having to go to the considerable expense of developing their own tubs.

With several different car- makers using the same basic tub, it would enable ATR to 'mass produce' them at a rate of as many as 20 per day, thereby substantially reducing the cost. While not as cheap as an aluminium spaceframe, ATR's composite tub - created using advanced carbonfibre beams - substantially undercuts the composite honeycomb tubs used by the top-end supercar makers.

As yet at a very early stage of development, the Identity i1 is projected to reach production early in 2008. There's no definitive word on its engine right now, but Identity is looking to source the V8 from a German maker to ensure reliability and credibility.