The Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto will have a Canadian world debut when the Montreal-developed Felino cB7R is unveiled.
The brainchild of Canadian racing champion Antoine Bessette, the cB7R is a track car adapted to the street, and part of a Canadian high-performance prestige supercar family that will also include the racetrack worthy cB7+.
“I’ve always been fueled by cutting-edge technologies,” says Bessette. “Several years of research and development were required in order to create a vehicle this powerful for road use. We had to re-think each individual component to be able to provide both the features and the experience one expects of a premium high-performance sports car.”
The cB7R features a 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V-8 pumping out 525 hp and 488 lb-ft of peak torque. It can be optioned up to a 7.0-litre V-8 (700 hp/580 lb-ft) that helps it hit the 100 km/h mark just 2.9 seconds after launch, and a top speed of 345 km/h. Both come standard with a 6-speed manual and optionally with 6-speed sequential shift automatic.
Everything about the scissor-doored car is derived from the track, from the tubular frame and composite carbon body, to the performance-tuned suspension and 14-inch 4-wheel disc brakes (optionally carbon), to the racing steering wheel and carbon fibre seats (that have the option of being moulded to the driver’s body).
The vehicle was originally conceived in 2010 and introduced in prototype form at the 2014 Salon International de Montreal. A couple CB7s were built in 2017, leading up to the 10 production units of the cB7R that will be hand-crafted in Montreal to customers’ specifications, at a cost of $360,000 Canadian. Felino is currently working on the cB7+, which the company says is the pinnacle of performance for the model and expected to be introduced by the end of 2020.