Picture Smorgasbord: First Official Photos of the SV 9 Competizione
A little over a week ago we first broke news concerning the SV 9 Competizione, a Chevy Corvette C6 reconstructed as an Italian coachbuilt supercar. You can see our initial review in that article. However, at that time only concept car renderings were available. We now have the first official pictures of the actual car and it is a beauty. Check out the full photo gallery and press release after the jump.
Origins of the SV 9 Competizione
The SV 9 Competizione (aka the “SV 9C” or “9C”) is produced by SV Motor Company of San Francisco in collaboration with an all-star team of auto industry specialists, which includes, among others, Pratt & Miller Engineering (www.prattmiller.com); Corvid Technologies (www.corvidtechnologies.com); ANSA Automotive (http://www.ansaautomotive.com); Pirelli Tire (http://www.us.pirelli.com); DeBotec (www.debotec.com); and WinterPark Engineering (www.winterpark.us). The team’s goal in creating the 9C was to produce a limited-edition, American coachbuilt sportscar, whose performance and aesthetic characteristics rivaled those of the finest Italian road cars, and at a price that would make it accessible to a broader section of the population.
Why the SV 9C is a unique American original
To produce the car, the team married the strength of American craftsmanship with the classic style and sensibility of an Italian carrozzeria. Specifically, the team designed and built a unique coachbuilt body for the car made from super-strong, yet lightweight, carbon-fiber (and featuring a highly-advanced, jet fighter inspired, aerodynamic management system) and then incorporated within that coachbuilt body the world-class Corvette C6 drivetrain – the same drivetrain responsible for putting the Corvette on most auto writers’ lists of the world’s top sports cars.
The result is a car that is as fast and aesthetically pleasing as any Ferrari, Alfa or other Italian supercar, but with a far lower sticker price (under $100K), far better fuel economy (26 mpg highway) and a substantially lower cost to maintain.
A picture’s worth a thousand words…
As the interior shots of the car illustrate, every SV 9C features state-of-the-art carbon-fiber-reinforced racing seats upholstered in exquisite hand-stitched Italian leather supplied by Mario Levi SpA (the same source used by Ferrari), and either a burl-wood or carbon-fiber finished steering wheel and matching, custom-rendered, instrument panel and console.
The detail shots also highlight the 9C’s custom-forged oversize alloy wheels, sporting PIRELLI PZero Rosso tires, which, along with the car’s suspension and brake package, were specially tailored for extreme-performance – delivering over 1g of lateral acceleration and unbelievably precise handling.
The exterior paintwork on the cars in the photos is our standard version (of which there are 18 color choices in all). An even more stunning plated special edition version (of which there are a further 7 color choices) is also optional. One of the car’s pictured has a Palomino interior trim and the other a two-tone trim using Palomino and Cognac (Three other leather color choices are available). One model has red brake calipers, the other has open weave carbon fiber (there are 5 choices in all). One version sports satin alloy wheel finish and the other diamond polish (polished black and titanium are also available). Both of the cars pictured feature leather finished steering wheels with burl-wood accents and matching, custom-rendered, instrument panels and consoles; those pieces may also be ordered in carbon-fiber. Finally, both cars (like all 9C’s) feature an exhaust system created specially by ANSA Automotive, with one based on ANSA’s design for the Ferrari Daytona and the other on its design for the Ferrari 599.
Source: SV Motor Company