The Cunningham C7: set to take on Ferrari

At first glance, you'd think this rather large four-wheeled chunk of precision engineering would hail from Europe, but no.

The Cunningham C7 is completely US-built and is the first true American luxury GT car in nearly five decades, according to the PR spiel.

The new car represents the return to motoring for one of America's oldest car makers. The company made a big name for itself in the 1950s, in yankee motor racing and Le Mans, where Briggs Cunningham II raced his C3 (pictured right) against the best Europe could offer in the form of Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Today the Cunningham name is back and the new C7 GT prototype is an impressive piece of machinery.

For starters, the concept is very different to most, in that it actually went for a 'car' look as opposed to the helicopter/toaster-oven/spaceball look.

The new C7 will be very exclusive, very expensive and very fast. But not in the same sense that the Lamborghini Diablo is a supercar. The C7 will be mind-numbingly fast, but, according to head honcho Bob Lutz, it comes with creature comforts - an area the Italian supercars can't match. Lutz was also responsible for the new-look V10 Dodge Viper.

"It's not a road-going race car, something you have to shoehorn yourself into. It's sophisticated and no-holds-barred but not just for horsepower fanatics," Lutz said.

Indeed, the C7 isn't to be balked at. It's an American car, so you can forget turbochargers - it's just not the yankee way. Instead they've gone for sheer size and cylinder count allowing the C7 will churn out a gut-wrenching 440kW (600bhp).

It is expected that the C7 will adopt an all-wheel drive transmission, though a rear-wheel drive model would be quite lively, too.

The power is generated under the bonnet by a big-block V12, displacing 6.8-litres. With four valves per cylinder (48 valves) and a host of other electro-gadgetry, the C7 is expected to be quite a sprinter.

As the car isn't going to be manufactured until 2003/2004, not much info has been released, such as peak torque, or 0-100km times - though we'd wager the latter would be in the mid fives.

The C7 weighs in at a rotund 1600kg, or about the same weight as a VX Commodore station wagon. It is likely that the vehicle would weigh even more if carbon fibre and aluminium body panels weren't used in its construction.

The car is relatively heavy (though not for it's 4.7 metres of length) and as a result the engine produces intense amounts of power to drive the wheels. This results in the build-up of heat.

Instead of countering this with a normal water-cooled method, the new Cunningham will use a revolutionary waterless cooling system. Called the Evans' NPG+, the system uses non-toxic, high boiling point non-aqueous coolant.

This new coolant system has a boiling point far higher than conventional types and is operated well below this boiling point. Also, any coolant vapor (gas) that is generated is instantly condensed back to liquid. The effect produced is an overall reduction in heat build-up and a decreased chance of detonation.

In laymans terms the new cooling system makes your car go faster. Especially if it's a wind-cheating, V12 behemoth!

The super-sleek car sits on giant 22-inch wheels, which should provide the perfect amount of traction for such a large GT car. The overall look is very pleasing, though not everyone we've talked to shares this opinion. The front headlights sit atop the exagerrated wheel flares on the front corners of the chassis, producing a rather ominous gaze - particularly so with the inclusion of that huge, gaping grille.

The car's side-on profile is stunning, starting with the massive 22-inch wheels sitting perfectly withing the wheel arches. Unlike the aircraft-like Zonda, the rear of the C7 drops off gradually to a sculpted wing-less tail-section. From the rear, the C7 looks part Audi TT, part Porsche. The multi-globe tail-lights look very funky when operated and the wide wheel flares add plenty of muscle to the car.

The streamlined design of the C7 will enable extremely fast top speeds. Expect it to pass the 300km/h mark with ease. There's very little to cause much drag. The mirrors retract at higher speeds and the low profile ensures minimal drag created under the car. All up, the C7 is one sexy looking car with the performance to back up its bold lines.

There it is - the next big American dream and perhaps the first all-American luxury GT car in more than fifty years. The Cunningham group is very confident the car will be popular, even with a price tag of $US250,000 (a paltry $470,000). The company hopes to build 250 C7s in the first year of production (2003) then ramp up production to 500 cars a year.

The car will be sold all over the world, not just in the US and if we happen to be millionaires in a few years time, we may just have to snap up one of these gargantuan V12 beasts.