Fraser-Nash is world's fastest green supercar

Mar 5 2009 Steve Hughes

Fraser-Nash is world's fastest green supercar

ONE of the UK's iconic sporting car names is to be revived in the stunning shape of the Fraser-Nash Namir.

Displayed at this week's Geneva Motor Show, the sleek newcomer harks back to the Fraser-Nash heritage when the brand was an aspirational marque as long ago as the 1920s.

Its latest incarnation is as a radical hybrid electric car designed by Italian styling house Italdesign-Giugiaro and is claimed to be the fastest of its type in the world.

The new Namir supercar, whose name is Arabic for Tiger, has a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis with honeycomb panels that enclose the rear suspension and weighs of just 110kg.

Unveiling the car, Fabrizio Giugiaro said he had based the styling around the Frazer-Nash diamond logo, while the interior is intended to be a modern take on British luxury. 'It was a pleasure to work with a name that has made automobile history,' he said.

The hybrid layout combines a rotary engine of 814cc with four electric motors to achieve an equivalent power output of 370bhp. This gives awesome acceleration to 60mph in 3.5sec and a 0-120mph time of just 10.4 seconds plus a 187mph top speed.

Despite these remarkable performance figures the Namir can travel for 25 miles on a litre of fuel - almost 115mpg - and has CO2 emissions of under 60g/km.

The rotary engine runs on petrol and acts as a generator that charges the lithium polymer power cells whilst a 50-litre fuel tank capacity gives a total range of almost 1,200 miles.

The company says that despite its impressive presence at the show the is still in its infancy and is unlikely to be on sale soon.