Get Ready For The Glorious, M5-Powered Return Of Wiesmann
Five years on from shutting its factory doors, Wiesmann is plotting a glorious comeback. The German company today announced that ‘Project Gecko’ will yield a new car described as a “modern take on the cult MF5 model”.
As you may remember, the GT MF5 was powered by an S85 V10 kindly lent by BMW. Its follow up will stick to that theme, borrowing the S63 twin-turbo V8 from the current M5. If the power output remains unchanged, we’ll be looking at 592bhp, propelling a car that’s likely to be around half a tonne lighter than BMW’s super saloon.
Although it’ll be styled much like Wiesmann’s previous vehicles, Project Gecko will sit on an all-new platform. The car will be front-engined and rear-wheel drive, with a 50:50 weight distribution. As far as technical details go, that’s all we know right now.
Wiesmann’s owner and CEO Roheen Berry - who’s relaunching the company with brother Sahir - had this to say: “This last true independent manufacturer of German sports cars is back and has an exciting future to look forward to. When we set out on this journey we said we wanted to re-engineer an icon and we are on track to do exactly that.”
The reborn company includes personnel from the original team and will build its cars in the old Wiesmann factory in Dülmen.
The waiting list is open now. Wiesmann hasn’t said how much the new car will cost, but with the MF5 costing €190,000 when still available, we’d anticipate its replacement to be priced over €200k.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
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Matt Robinson S85* V10, mate
TDU2 intensifies