Lefatti Automobili : Italian Sports Cars Maker

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[iRaptor]

The newly-renamed car company, Lefatti Automotive, is proud to present their very first concept car, the Lefatti Brutale!

Sporting a V12 alongside a very light chassis, making the whole car weighting less than a ton, the Brutale will be sending all of its power through the rear wheels via a 7-speed sequantial gearbox. Aerodynamics were a prime component in making this concept, and thus no compromises were to be done. Aesthetics were let alone, and the "3-scoped grill" at the front managed to bring a huge amount of front downforce for more stability, while allowing for less drag thanks to the "bottom scope" airflow being redirected on the car via a hood bonnet close to the windshield.

The engineer teams at the factory are still working on the concept and are evaluating an eventual entry on the market.

Watch that space.

[squidhead]

You guys never heard of roleplay in this subforum?

[iRaptor]

Mike Lewis, CEO of Lefatti Automobile, will be answering a few questions regarding the future of the company in the next few minutes.
Stay tuned while we are running our live Q&A in the thread.

[iRaptor]

Press Conference with Mike Lewis, CEO of Lefatti Automobile :

Mike : Hello everyone, thank you for being here. First of all, we are grateful for the very small group people who kept following us while we were facing difficulties with our facilities. We decided to organise this little press conference in order to clear some of our ideas and strategies in the short and medium-term, and we feel very confident about the business of our little company, which is run by sports cars fans, for the fans.
Well, now, time for some questions. Do we have anybody here willing to give some?

Marcus Rumpfkeil, German journalist for the Built, raises his hand :

Markus : Hallo Mister. Can you comment on the first company outings?

Mike : Well we have a small team of engineers working on different projects. At first, we had most of them focusing on the Hot Hatch Cup, then we divided our team in order to get two Prototype entries for the Automation World Endurance Championship.
We had some very surprising and promising results during the first two races for our little hatchback, with a P6 and a P5, granting us two points for our very second race in motorsport. We discovered the car was around 50kg heavier than our main rivals after running the data simulation on the first race. With some more experience, chances are we would have done better laptimes as our chassis had some issues. We also fiddled too much with the setup, and our optimal one was around half a second faster than our latest laptimes on the Airfield track. However the car was tested there so we think our best result should be done in there.
Our Prototypes had some satisfying results, with our P1 being 3rd in the class rankings. Our P2 is in the last quarter in the standings, even though both cars were designed very similarly. We focused on having the lightest trims according to the rules, and having a great drivability. It turns out our P1 is the lightest and one of the most drivable car of the competition, while the P2 is a bit behind in both parts. However this was going to settle laptimes a lot worse than most of our competitors. This resulted in having the P1 being almost 3 seconds faster than any of the top10 finishers for the first race. Thankfully, we only needed 7 pitstops for the whole duration of the 24H of LeMans, and this was satisfying. The P2 was barely a second slower over a lap, and we still have to find out the issues coming from our average results. But we are still quite pleased by the first few results for our young and talented engineer team and it can only be better in the future.


Markus : Would you mind telling your plans about 2016?

Interesting question. Well as you might have seen, we are mainly a sportscar company, so chances are we might start building some nimble cars soon, don't you think?
Well more seriously, we went back to the drawing boards as soon as we completed our race cars. As a tiny company, owning small facilities and few engineers, we heavily invested on simulations, with CAD softwares such as SimScale for some of our aero testings. We couldn't afford using windtunnels or building a lot, so we decided to use some very innovative, or more precisely, very original ideas, as in using powerful portable computers alongside the more complex units in our newly-built headquarters located a few kilometers from the Mugello racetrack. This idea probably sounds quite strange, however it allows our engineers to work on the different projects at anytime they want. They are required to carry them, but are not obliged to work outside their schedule. The idea behind that is that they can add any ideas to the private cloud-based project whenever they want as it is optional. They are obviously given bonuses on their salary depending of the extra work they have done. We are also considering to open our cloud-based project and make it partly public.
Cars-wise, we are still working on alot of ideas. While some are probably staying as prototypes (not related to our race entries), some other ones are really pushed and may make it as concept-cars, or even being sold to the public. One of our engineers went as far as creating a crazy lightweight car. It will stay as a computer-aided prototype though. We are not willing to build a 3 000 000$, 600kg carbon-fiber hatchback with a motorbike engine boasting more than 400hp/ton you know.
Our serious projects include a lightweight mid-engined car. The family will include an entry-level trim affordable for many of the car enthusiast people weighing under a ton, a Sport version boasting a carbon-fiber body and a more powerful engine while still being affordable, a Performance trim with an extensive use of carbon-fiber and being one of the lightest cars on the market, and a Cup version, a barely street-legal version that can be bought by customer for racing events, be it by racing alone, being used on any cups, or with a special cup which might include some of our models, eventually alongside some other companies on the market. Price should be anywhere between 25K to 150K
Our second project will be designed for Time Attack competition, where powerful, bespoke track cars are often boasting 1 HP/KG. While the idea is well into development, we are still hesitant about the main design of the car. Early simulations are well under what we are expecting so we might be overhauling the project extensively. Price won't be revealed yet.
The third project is a mid-engined supercar. We are willing to get into the supercar market, while still using our main development path, shared from all the present and future project of our company. The price should be ranging anywhere between 150K and 400K.
The fourth project is making our Automation Prototype race cars into street-legal versions. Very few changes will be needed, as our engine simply need some fine tuning to make more of all the unused power. Extensive testing from the block proved the huge reliability of our V6 under all kinds of load. Having the fuel consumption of an Impreza while having a bit less than 2 times its power shows the tuning possibilities. However the car is far into our list. We are very hopeful about our entries for an eventual 2nd season as our brainstorming sessions about rule analysis showed we can squeeze alot more pace while still fitting into the rules. More or less, you know. As per every Formula 1 car.

In the meantime, make sure you have a look at our second concept car, the Lefatti Feroce, the lightweight mid-engined car!

The RS400 version, shown here, boast 400 hp/ton. Weighing less than 800kg and sporting a very high revving crossplane V8, you'll be off to 100kmh from a standstill in barely 3 seconds. That's the same time needed to realise the fact that sitting inside such a lightweight car isn't a good idea after eating your lunch.

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview.

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James Clark, from Highest Gear Magazine, thinks a bit, then calls Mike Lewis

James : Would you consider any other implications, besides racing-oriented ones? Do you think you might create some more models alongside the ones you've just mentioned?

Mike : Most likely so. We might eventually make a luxury car project. Nothing very serious for the moment, but it would be very far from any of our potential production cars. Afterall, running around 1500nm of torque for a 2 tons car is at the far end from our usual development path for sure! Launching a concept car seems more likely than seeing a production line being built for it though.
Talking about concept cars would go very well along with your second question though. We are willing to create bespoke editions for the people who wants to have a unique car, similarly as our friends from San Cesario sul Panario.
Bespoke models, however, is less likely to happen. Unless people are willing to give the money needed to cover all the expenses of course. But given that most of our cars will have a few derivaties on their own, I honestly doubt people will not be happy from any of the given models.
We would be really happy to collaborate with some other companies in the business, as a tuner company. We are hopeful on the fact that transforming any car to a more or less sporty version in its own would benefit to both parts of any projects.

Karl Heinz Tintenfischkopf, creator of Jungfernhäutchen Magazin, pretentiously interrupts the CEO and asks :

Karl : Your company has no history. Your company plays no role in the business. Why are you expecting to have any offers?

Mike : Mr. Karl Heinz. We faced really busy times these days, probably unlike yourself which seemingly keeps nitpicking on anyone presenting their newly-built cars. I would suggest you going back from where you are as we stricly asked you absolutely nothing. The history of a company brings nothing but fame, if any. We are not going against some of the very best companies of the business of course - unlike you - as the people behind these ones really deserve the fame. However, no fame brings absolutely no disadvantage of any kind. Our racing program is a good example about it. Our very young and motivated team has little experience in the business, except a few members bringing it. But a huge majority of the engineers here are those who still have a lot of time before retiring. We work in a partnership with some engineering school, to provide a good insight to the future engineer graduate. And the work of everyone brought us some very pleasant results for a company that barely spends its first year of life, unlike some people who have been here for a few decades.


The atmosphere is a bit tense. Some journalist can be heard laughing silently in the background, but none talks. For a few seconds. They found out that Mike is a very nice lad, but can be very harsh with people when they start to become irrelevant with their arguments

Mike looks at everyone with a smile, and then kindly start speaking again :

Well. Does anyone else have any questions? I'm very eager to hear more about you. Don't worry, feel free to ask about anything. We organised this press conference and I can only hope for more questions.

Mike waits for any kind of questions with a heartwarming smile...

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So far I am seeing some strong parallels to Glickenhaus and their SCG003, which is far from a bad thing.

An unidentified figure whose lanyard claims to be from Motor Magazine, has the following questions:

1. Perhaps a more relevant way to ask the previous question- despite everything else, competition in the fast car segment is ever so increasingly fierce. Attaining some degree of market share seems to be important to you given the range of your proposed price tag, so how will you go about achieving this? Who do you see as your immediate, and eventual rivals?
2. I've noticed you've referenced one-to-one power to weight cars multiple times thus far, despite them seemingly being a relatively distant priority to your main focus of light track-oriented sports cars. Is there a particular reason for this? And how would your processes cover the relatively unique tooling and fabrication practices required of such cars alongside your usual development path?

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Mike Lewis checks at his phone. The live press conference include a livestream session that can be seen from a social network. Comments are done on the fly, and one catches the eye of the Lefatti Automobile's chairman. He says :

[u]Mike : Oh, it seems like we have a couple of interesting questions. A person who doesn't want its name to be disclosed, and claiming to be part of Motor Magazine it seems.
May I quote.
"Perhaps a more relevant way to ask the previous question- despite everything else, competition in the fast car segment is ever so increasingly fierce. Attaining some degree of market share seems to be important to you given the range of your proposed price tag, so how will you go about achieving this? Who do you see as your immediate, and eventual rivals?
I've noticed you've referenced one-to-one power to weight cars multiple times thus far, despite them seemingly being a relatively distant priority to your main focus of light track-oriented sports cars. Is there a particular reason for this? And how would your processes cover the relatively unique tooling and fabrication practices required of such cars alongside your usual development path?
"[/u]

Well the price tag can satisfy most of the car enthusiast. The actual Elise seems to be pretty similar to the Feroce. However we will have trims covering as much "tastes" as possible. We are very keen on making a few ones as we stated previously. Well the project that was first named previously will belong to the Feroce family. Besides having around four different versions, some of them will follow rather quickly. The presented ones should satisfy a lot of people. Those who will not be satisfied by the weight of the entry-level version will find 2 Rudimentale versions. While both of them will be fundamentally staying the same as the main entry-level trim, one will provide rudimental interior and entertainment - hence the name - and for a slightly reduced price as you won't have to spend an extra few thousands for a better interior. However the car will be better suited for track use, as comfort won't be at the top. The second trim will provide the exact same things as the first one. However, instead of not using the extra money that could have been spent on a proper interior, we will use it on improving some of the important parts of the car, such as better valves, which is important when running more than 10K RPM. It seems complicated and you wouldn't be wrong about that. However our main ideas are that the customer must always be satisfied.
Most lightweight kit cars should be similar to our model aswell. However we are providing quality work on what we do and for a justified price. We are not picking on kit car companies at all though.
We will also provide a special part in our website to sell cars in a similar fashion to Radical Sportscar and closely follow our customer on every aspect needed to own a Lefatti.
Market share will be quite critical to us indeed. That is why we'll try getting the widest range possible, via different versions of our models. We will actively be part of any kind of racing-related competitions, be it with our projects or by creating bespoke cars. We are willing to be part of a competition including various manufacturers in a similar way to some touring car cups. I would suggest you to watch our space, talking about the latter kind of cars.

Well, one-to-one ratio can be more or less easily achieve for cars. Some very tiny engines proved to pull more than 400 horsepower a litre. We would require a 2L engine for one of the Feroce trim. Definately doable, considering one of the potential engines is loosely based on the actual F1 power units. That is definately doable. Making one-to-one ratio cars can be achieved. Making them behave properly and such, is a totally different thing. That is one of the reasons about producing concept cars. We are willing to create some interesting projects from our cloud-based CAD program. That will all depend whether anyone is interested in owning such a car or not. That was Mr. Glickenhaus idea by creating the P4/5, wasn't it? Well anyway we are glad you compared our company to the SCG003 project. It means a lot for our tiny company.



Anyone else?

Mike checks at his phone for any eventual questions...

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A Reporter from the "Astronaut Magazine" stands

"Just a few Quick Questions."

"Firstly, any plans to enter emerging markets? and secondly, Can you prove that these cars will sell?"

He then takes his seat.

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Mike is a bit surprised by the sudden question, but listen carefully and thinks about his answer.

Mike : Interesting. Well, our main market was obviously going to be Gasmea. Fuel availability isn't an issue and provides a lot of tracks, home of our sportscar. Fruinia and Archana isn't out of question, especially for our entry-level cars. Our cars will need some quick engine remapping but this is not going to be an issue and performances will hardly drop at all. However, chances are we might not sell some of our trims in these emerging markets, like the Performance version.

As for the latter question, has anyone been able to properly predict that a car will succeed or not? Probabilities always have wrong parts in it. Well more seriously, my point is that we won't be able to know that till the moment when we'll start selling our cars. However, if you compare our Feroce against one of the lightweight mid-engined sportscar in the 2016 market, you'll find out we have a lot in common. Except the price. You'll be able to spare around 15 000 euros by going for our standard Feroce. In case you decide to go for the Sport package, you'll roughly have to spend the same price as for the concurrent, but with a car that's about a quarter of a ton lighter. Not a bad deal I suppose?

Note that our packages might change until we eventually start selling the Feroce. We are still undecided on some parts for the cars, and about making the accent on important features or not.


Do we have any other questions? We already have a bunch of good ones and that is quite pleasing. Would be even better if we keep having some!

He looks at the crowd, searching for eventual reporters being tempted to ask something, and have a look at the live stream comments...

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After some time looking at the huge amount of comments in the livestream, Mike looks at the crowd again, and starts talking :

Mike : Well then, I guess you guys don't need any more informations, it seems. We didn't have any questions in the livestream aswell. Seems like it's time to bring the press conference to an end, isn't it?

He smiles at the crown, and starts packing up...