Friday, June 14, 2013

Jiotto Caspita 1988

Yet another car that could have been but only managed to get to the first prototype stage, the Jiotto Caspita. The car was designed by by Kunihisa Ito, who was the vice-president and chief designer of Jiotto Design Incorporated.

The cars were built by Dome, but from what I have seen its not clear if two were built or if one was built and assembled with two different engines. What is certain is that two engines were used. The first one a Motori Moderni flat-12, basically a detuned F1 engine. In 1990 was stripped and then rebuilt with a Judd V10. Both engines were transversely mounted, and powered the rear wheels through a 6 speed gearbox built by Weismann. The car first made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in the same year. Unfortunately the project would die out in 1993 due to the global recession. With the Judd engine, the Caspita is capable of 577 horsepower (430 kW) at 10,750 rpm and 283 ft·lbf (284 N·m) of torque at 10,500 rpm. This, along with a curb weight of 2734 lb (1240 kg), gives the Caspita a 0-60 mph acceleration time of approximately 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 199 miles per hour (320 km/h).

Its a shame it wasnt built, its quite good looking I think. The rear deck is a bit too Jaguar XJR-15 but all around I like it.