The Spectre R42 is a 2-seater mid-engined rear-wheel drive sportscar built by British speciality car manufacturer Spectre Supersport Ltd.
The car was first designed by Ray Christopher of GT Development fame, who was notable for building accurate replicas of Ford GT40. The R42 was the modern reincarnation of the GT40 given the same wheelbase and size of the cars together and was first shown at the London Motor Show in the early-mid nineties. Unfortunately, the company soon collapsed due to high development costs of the car.
A British-offshoot of the American company called Spectre would take over the whole project, with Christopher leading the project before soon leaving the company and was replaced by Anders Hildebrand.
He reorganized production, brought in the investors and involved Derek Bell as chairman. By 1996, selling for £70,000 each, the company only managed to sell 23 cars, a reasonable amount for a speciality car and then in 1997 the company fell into bankruptcy. The company would later return to develop a similar car called Spectre R45, which never entered production.
The chassis of the car is a monocoque and is made of lightweight material as of other parts of the car such as the suspension and body, which gave it the final weight of around 1250 kilograms (1.23 tons). The car is 4115 mm (13.4') in length, 1854 mm (6.0') in width, and 1092 mm (3.5') in height. The heart of the sportscar is a 4.6 litre (281 cubic inches) Ford V8 with 4 valves per cylinder which develops 360 bhp (268 kW) and 317 lb·ft (430 N·m) of torque allowing the car to reach 60 mph (100 km/h) in 4 and a half seconds and on to a top speed of 175 mph (280 km/h). The weight distribution of 42% at the front and 58% at the rear because of the mid-mounted engine makes it a very predictable car when driving it very fast. The wide tyres give plenty of grip in dry conditions. The race-style independent suspension, which is a shock absorbing unit, is fully adjustable, so as a result, it has a great ride quality and is very comfortable even at high speeds.
The very spacious interior of the R42 contains luxurious leather trims and neat Wilton carpets. Visibility is also very good compared to other mid-engined sportscar of that time, even of today. There is a good amount of luggage and storage space as well.
The R42 had a starring role in the 2000 Ian Sharp film "RPM" where it plays the prototype eco-friendly supercar that David Arquette has to steal.