Founded 2004 Type Privately held company | Genre Supercar manufacturer Founder Roland Gumpert Number of employees 45 | |
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Predecessor GMG Sportwagenmanufaktur Altenburg GmbH Area served European, Middle Eastern and U.S. markets Owner Ideal Team Ventures Limited | ||
Apollo Automobil (Previously known as Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH) is a German supercar manufacturing company headquartered in Denkendorf. Roland Gumpert, the founder of Apollo, once held the position of director of Audi Sport. Under his management, Audi won a total of 25 World Rally Championship races and four World Rally Championship titles.
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History
In 2001, Roland Gumpert proposed a new generation sports car, one that would be race-ready yet also street-legal. After Gumpert returned to Germany from China at the end of 2001, Roland Meyer asked him to assist in building a prototype sports car. Audi approved Gumpert's involvement in this project on the condition that the new sports car would be a series product and not a prototype.
The company was founded in 2004 under the name "GMG Sportwagenmanufaktur Altenburg GmbH". The technical guidelines were defined and the first designs of the car were drawn by Marco Vanetta. Upon Vanetta's completion of this process, the first 1:4 scale model of Gumpert's car was produced in 2002.
Gumpert continued with the development of the Apollo, along with the Technical University of Munich and the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. They have assisted with the construction work, computer simulations, and wind tunnel tests. This research and development helped form the blueprint for the first full-scale model. Finally two prototype Apollos were constructed. The production of the Apollo started in October 2005.
On July 27, 2008 an Apollo Sport was featured on the UK show Top Gear. Richard Hammond and the Stig drove the Apollo Sport. With a lap time of 1.17.1, the Apollo Sport became the new leader on the Power Lap Board, 0.2 seconds faster than the former lap leader, the Ascari A10. The Apollo was faster than Bugatti Veyron and Pagani Zonda around the Top Gear track. It was later beaten with a time of 01:16.8 by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
In August 2013, the company filed for bankruptcy and went into liquidation after an anonymous backer pulled out of a deal that could have saved the company.
In January 2016, the company was purchased by Hong Kong consortium Ideal Team Venture, also owner of the De Tomaso marque, and Gumpert was renamed Apollo Automobil GmbH.
At the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, Apollo unveiled the Arrow, a hypercar that produces 1,000 hp from its twin-turbocharged 4.0 liter V8 engine. The Arrow can travel from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in less than 2.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 220 mph (360 km/h).
In November 2016 the company announced that Roland Gumpert was no longer associated with the company or its current or future projects and also announced a new model (project name ‘Titan’) will be unveiled at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Development partners
Apollo collaborated with several business and technical partners, including the following:
Availability
The successor of Apollo and Apollo S is Apollo N. Apollo N is currently available in the European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets. Apollo also plans to export Apollo to Australia, America, and Russia.
Since October 2005, a total of 45 employees, both from the production and administration departments, have produced and delivered the first cars. From 2013 onwards, an annual production of 30 hyper-cars was planned. The Apollo N is equipped with a 4,163 cc bi-turbo V8 engine delivering 515 kW (700 PS).
Motorsport
During April 2005 the Apollo made its racing debut in the Divinol Cup. This Apollo was driven by the Belgian race driver Ruben Maes. Maes finished third on the Hockenheimring race track. Three years later Gumpert announced that they would enter a hybrid electric version of the Apollo in the 2008 24 Hours Nürburgring, driven by 2004 winner Dirk Müller and former Formula One racer Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Three months passed between the first discussions and the finished hybrid Apollo. The Apollo was driven in the 24 Hours Nürburgring in May 2008. The hybrid Apollo can deliver up to 630 hp (470 kW), powered with a 3.3 litre V8 bi-turbo engine coupled with a 100 kW (136 PS; 134 hp) electric motor. The car has the ability to recharge the battery under braking.