Originally launched as a concept car almost a decade ago, the reborn Veritas was destined to become yet another one-off. That changed last year when the rights were bought by Michael Trick's Vermot AG. He picked up the development work and recently the production Veritas RS III was launched to much acclaim. Like its original namesakes, it uses a BMW sourced drive-train. To be more specific, the V10 engine and SMG 7-Speed gearbox that are also found in the BMW M5 and M6. A six-speed manual will be an option. The 507 bhp V10 is installed in a lightweight space-frame chassis, which is clothed in a '1+1' body. There is a room for a passenger but just like on many 1950s sports racers, the passenger area can also be covered to improve the airflow. Thanks to its light weight, the aggressively styled Veritas can accelerate to 60 mph or 100 km/h in just over 3 seconds. The top speed is an equally impressive 216 mph or 347 km/h. The hand-built sports car takes 8 weeks to complete and the company expects to deliver the first cars in January of 2010.
In the early 1990s some of the fastest racing cars ever competed in the IMSA GTP Championship. Thanks to highly sophisticated ground-effects aerodynamics and immensely powerful turbocharged engines, they set a pace that has not been matched since on some of the tracks. Amidst the American built Japanese power-houses Nissan and Toyota, the TWR Jaguar team managed to score quite a few victories with adapted Group C designs in 1989 and 1990. For 1991 TWR developed the XJR-16, which was the company's first and as it would turn out to be only purpose-built GTP racer. Compared to the earlier twin-turbo, V6 engined Jaguars, it featured a revised rear-end and an innovative twin-tier rear wing. In the hands of Davy Jones, the XJR-16 had a perfect debut with a pole position and a victory. It would win another three times but sadly the program was abandoned before the XJR-16 could be fully developed.
The car scored one of its four wins at Laguna Seca in July of 1991. To complement the XJR-16 feature, our friend and GTP nut Marshall Pruett has just uploaded videos of four other GTP races at Laguna Seca on his fabulous website GrandTouringPrototype.com.
Enjoy the links:
1991 Jaguar XJR-16 - Images, Specifications and Information
2009 Veritas RS III - Images, Specifications and Information
Grand Touring Prototype - GrandTouringPrototype.com