Farbio GTS

The recent and very sad death of Marcos Cars prompted me to wonder what its former boss, Chris Marsh, had been up to. I knew he’d been involved in the Invicta project but for the past two or three years there has been silence. Now I know why. Many of you will remember Arash Farboud and the pretty Farboud GT he created a few years back. Well, Chris has taken on the project, re-engineered the car around a spaceframe chassis with a carbon-fibre body and renamed the result the Farbio GTS. Powered by a 262bhp, 3-litre V6 motor, it weighs just 1048kg, despite being equipped with satnav, climate control, leather upholstery and electric windows and mirrors. It’s not only beautiful, it also drives well, thanks to an excellent chassis providing first-class ride and handling. In fact, it’s a bit too good for the Ford-derived engine, so it’s just as well there’s one with a Rotrex supercharger on its way that will up the power to 384bhp. That should knock a second off the 4.8sec needed to reach 60mph and raise its top speed from around 160mph to over 175mph. The basic car costs £59,925, the blown one £71,625. I’m not sure about the name, but I am about the car: if production versions match the prototype, every success will be deserved.