Joss Supercar: The Exotic Australian

Motoring Channel Staff - 18/Apr/2008

Sydney, Australia — Are we alone in thinking that the Joss Supercar name needs to change? 

As unoriginal as it may be, we are heartened by the news that Australian company Joss Development's super car is back on track.

Last heard of in 2006, when the hype surrounding it was so positive that it was even featured in videogames such as Project Gotham Racing on the Xbox 360, the company allegedly ran out of steam and plans to release Australia's fastest super car were put on hold.

The Joss Supercar appears to be back on track however, with the privately-owned company issuing a press release indicating it is moving operations to a Victorian facility where it "is finally in a position to finalize initial customers deposits".

The company asserts the Joss Supercar will go into production this year, powered by a 6.8-litre mid-mounted V8 engine.

Based on the Joss Supercar concept shown at the 2004 Sydney and Melbourne motor shows, the Australian company says that further engineering and design changes have been made and that it's new creation will "genuinely gun for the big players of the super car world".

Early testing by Joss puts the zero to 100km/h benchmark acceleration test at 2.98 seconds, which would make it not only the fastest Australian coupes that money can buy, but also one of the world's quickest performance cars.

The Joss Supercar's designer, Matt Thomas, issued this statement: "We have a vast amount of experience from many facets of the automotive industry, including Formula One, Le Mans racing, auto production, manufacture and so on.

"Our belief is that a strong brand must be heavily involved in competition and this is why we are aiming our sights on GT racing as a spring board to the greatest race of all – Le Mans! Currently we are in talks with an existing race team with a proven track record."

Joss is expected to race and homologate the super car for sale to private buyers so it can then begin racing competitively in the GT series to build its reputation.

Pricing for the road-going super car has not been divulged at this stage.

Expected to weigh under 1000kg, the mid-mounted V8 engine will output roughly 350kW of power and 650Nm of torque, and the brakes would be sourced locally from Harrop.

Top speed is expected to be around 320km/h.

With a new management team behind it, Joss is confident of delivering what could be the fastest Australian sports car ever made.

Watch this space.

Related Articles:
- Urugano (2008)
- E-Vade (2008)
- Bolwell Nagari (2008)
- Ferrari F430 Spider (Road Test)
- Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 4 (2008)