Arash AF-10

Arash AF10 at a glance

All performance figures are manufacturer claims from the 2016 launch. Company filings describe Arash as a micro entity, and it builds fewer than three cars a year.

Who is Arash? From Farboud to Arash Motor Company

Arash Farboud began building sports cars in 1999, and the company was registered as Farboud Limited on 27 November 2000. Its first prototype, the Farboud GT, appeared at Autosport International in 2002 with a 2.8-litre twin-turbo Audi V6 of 460 kW (620 bhp). The GTS followed as a concept in 2003 and was launched at the 2004 British Motor Show; three prototypes were built.

In 2006 the firm became Arash Motor Company. According to a 2009 interview, it was funded by the Farboud family's medical packaging business. Its most complete road car is the AF8, a mid-engined coupé with a carbon and steel tubular chassis. It uses a 7.0-litre GM LS7 V8 with 377 kW (505 bhp), or 410 kW (550 bhp) in the Cassini version. The old 1cars text placed the company in Cambridge; its base is Newmarket, close to the Cambridgeshire border.

The first AF10 concept (2009)

The AF10 name first appeared in 2009 on a concept with a 7.0-litre V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette and 373 kW (500 bhp). It stayed a show car. The old article dated the AF10's debut to 2010; the sources put the concept in 2009 and the hybrid, the version most people know, in 2016.

AF10 hybrid powertrain (2016)

The 2016 car changed the concept completely. A 6.2-litre supercharged V8, reported at launch to be a tuned GM crate engine, produces about 671 kW (900 bhp) and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual or an optional paddle-shift gearbox. Four electric motors made by Compact Dynamics in Germany add 880 kW (1,180 bhp), each with its own two-speed gearbox, so the car has five gearboxes in total.

The motors draw on a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery under the floor and in the side pods; Arash gave its size as 32 kWh. The combined claim is 1,551 kW (2,080 hp) and 2,280 Nm. Arash also said the AF10 could reach 200 mph on electric power alone.

The old 1cars text added three details from the 2016 press material, kept here as company claims. The doors open electro-hydraulically by gesture, the ride height can change by 150 mm, and the touch interface came from the Swedish firm Neonode.

Chassis, body and cabin

The central tub is made of 13 pieces of carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb, with a tubular roll-over structure on top. Arash compared the weight of the carbon structure to 658 smartphones, about 85 kg. Wheels are 19 inches at the front and 20 inches at the rear. Inside, the AF10 had a two-seat cabin with climate control and satellite navigation, unusual extras for a car of this kind.

Price and versions

In 2016 Arash listed three versions:

The euro figures are conversions at the March 2016 rate, not official euro prices.

What happened next: production and status

Arash did not publish delivery numbers for the AF10 hybrid, and no customer car has been documented in independent road tests. The company remained an active private firm, and in 2021 it described an electric hypercar concept called Imperium, with four motors and a one-piece carbon monocoque. The AF10 therefore belongs to the same group as other small-maker hypercars of the 2010s whose huge outputs were announced but never independently measured.

For readers comparing claims, it helps to put the AF10 next to cars that were built in series. Compared with the LaFerrari's 708 kW, the claimed 1,551 kW is more than twice as much, a gap no independent test has confirmed: