New Car: 2011 Supasse V


The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has another sports car reveal up its sleeve. We have just learned that the Supasse V sports car -- designed and built by a Japanese backyard builder Suzusho Ltd. -- will debut at Tokyo next week.

Tipping the scales at just 1874 lbs. thanks to its liberal use of aluminum and fiberglass components, the coupe sits on a unique race-car style "aluminum twin-tube monocoque spaceframe" with a copper tube frame addition at the rear end. The race-car-like styling is no accident, either. Veteran Japanese F1 car designer Kenji Mimura is responsible for the V's great-looking lines, which feature a butterfly door layout.

The Supasse V is powered by a midship-mounted, specially tuned version of the 2.3-liter turbo from the MazdaSpeed3 (up to roughly 270 horsepower), mated to the Speed3's six-speed gearbox.

Slated to go on sale in Japan in mid-2010, Nagoya-based car parts and used car dealer Suzusho says it will build 100 units over four years with a price tag somewhere in the $50,000-$80,000 range.
Thanks to: Motor Trend