Where or when will the arms race ever end? Probably round about here.
Have you noticed? Many GTI-type cars today have 300 horsepower. Manufacturer after manufacturer present new cars with 500 horsepower. Prestige manufactorers go way beyond that and routinely surpass 700 horsepower. And in recent years we’ve even been introduced to a new concept: Something called a hypercar – as it is supposedly even more super than a supercar. Except – it’s not: It’s just more. In short: There’s an arms race going on.
As manufacturers keep cranking up the volume to get attention, I think it is relevant to ask where all of this will end? What can be better than a powerful engine?
Well, if you adhere to the current “more is more”-philosophy, the answer is really straigtforward: Two. Not one powerful engine, but two!
Lo and behold for the future was already here in 1981: Wolfrace Sonic with two Rover-Buick V8 and sixteen cylinders in total. Surely, we can agree that if a V8 engine is good, then two are better, right? Modern super- and hypercars leave another flank open: Many journalists and enthusiasts have criticised their gearboxes, as many early paddleshifts had slightly rough edges and weren’t that easy to drive slowly (as in when showing off). Sonic, on the other hand, has automatic shifts from Borg-Warner’s silky smooth hand. And why would you settle for only one gearbox anyway? Thirty years ago, the Sonic gave you all of two complete gearboxes? Take that with your more-is-more mentality.
Still not convinced? Then look at those six wheels on the Sonic. As a matter of fact, the wheels were its primary reason to be: Wheel manufactorer Wolfrace financed the Sonic project, and used the car as a rolling advertisement for their new design of alloy wheels, which of course was duly fitted to the Sonic. On all three axles – six wheels. Take that, Koenigsegg! It was even claimed that the Wolfrace Sonic actually drove amazingly well. Whether that actually matters, I’m not entirely sure. It was hardly its reason for being, but an added bonus nonetheless.
The Sonic was built by the famous hot rod-based Nick Butler, whose classic rods in the seventies won a lot of prizes. In fact, his initial model for the Sonic had only four wheels, and it was Wolfrace who suggested that it be built with six. Perhaps they recognized where things were going? Taking the arms race to the next level – and perhaps never to be surpassed – it was given six wheels. The chassis was more conventional, a classical tube frame which was clad in a shapely fibreglass body, while the suspension was primarily Jaguar. Including the two differentials that were connected to a short axle across. One differential was equipped with a limited slip while the other one was completely locked, and as the motors had their respective shafts driving into each of their differentials, the setup required the engines to rotate at exactly the same speed. This is where it got really high-tech for 1981 with a computer coming into the picture, constantly monitoring and adjusting engine speed synchronization. Incredibly, it actually worked! So it’s probably fair to assume that British Leyland had nothing to do with the project whatsoever.
Still not convinced? Well, just look at the shape. If a LaFerrari is supposed to be spectacular, then there really are no words in my vocabulary to describe the Sonic. Hyperbole won’t suffice! Place the two side by side, and the LaFerrari will look like a staid tile table. And don’t give me that “but the modern car is faster”. That’s clearly not what this is about at all. It’s about where you go when the sole objective is more and more. And whether you really want to go there at all?
