Earlier we did an article on the Zenvo TSR-S, and told you that too often automakers don’t get the credit they deserve due to the fact that they don’t produce cars with massive volume. The Gumpert Apollo follows this to a tee, as it is hardly known and deserves some spotlight.
Our story starts in the early 2000’s when Roland Gumpert proposed his idea of what a sports car should be. At the time he was in charge of a VW-Audi venture in China. He was soon asked by a designer to help create a new sports car. Audi approved this venture and he got to work created the Apollo. It took 4 years for Gumpert to get their first 1:1 scale model, but in October of 2005 they had 2 functioning prototypes and began production of the Apollo. It was immediately praised for its handling, speed, and acceleration. It set a lap record on Top Gear that was held for 2 years before being broken by the Ferrari FXX.
The Apollo uses a 4.2 liter V8 from Audi that has a biturbo. It has a lot of cool features like variable valve timing, 3-way catalytic converter, and a twin exhaust setup. Specs are in a chart below, but now we have to discuss the sad part of Gumpert: the shutdown. In 2013, Gumpert was closed down due to bankruptcy. But this isn’t the last we’ll see of the Apollo…
Specs
Specs about the Gumpert Apollo are pretty hard to find, but also pretty complicated. The Gumpert came in Base, Sport and Race models. They increase in power and decrease in weight in that order.
| Gumpert Apollo Base | Gumpert Apollo S | Gumpert Apollo R | |
| Price | Approx $1 Million | App. $1.2 Million | App. $2 Million |
| Top Speed | 224 MPH | 224 MPH | 224 MPH |
| Power | 641 HP | 690 HP | 789 HP |
| Acceleration | 3.0 Seconds | 3.0 Seconds | 3.0 Seconds |
Apollo was a serious player. It brought power and finesse all in an absolutely stunning package. But the future of Apollo looks bright. The Apollo name was taken out of bankruptcy, and some new supercars are on the way. Cars like the Apollo Arrow and the Apollo IE are on the way, and they look to change the supercar market right under our noses…
