Puritalia 427 Roadster: An Italian Shelby Cobra

Puritalia, the Italian sports car startup, has revealed its first model- 427 roadster in its final form at a special event in Milan. Housing a 5.0-litre V-8 sourced from the Ford Motor Company, the hand-built premium sports car is a perfect blend of American muscle and pure Italian design.

With a curb weight of just 1150 kgs, split 50/50 front to rear, the chassis of the 427 roadster is a lightweight aluminum structure attached to carbon fiber panels. While the suspension setup is fully independent and utilizes adjustable Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs. For efficient braking, the 427 features a set of beefy Brembo brakes, 15-inch discs with six-piston calipers up front and 13.6 inch discs with four-piston calipers at the rear. A set of 19 inches tryes are used up front and 20 inches at the rear, that comes shod with Pirelli P Zeros measuring 275/35 front and 335/30 rear.

Propelling the standard trim is a naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre V8 engine, sourced from Ford, rated at 445 hp at 6500 rpm and 530 Nm of torque at 4250 rpm. Whereas the more powerful version brings a supercharger on-board, giving the power figures a leap to 605 bhp at 7000 rpm and 640 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm. Drive is to the rear wheels only, via a six-speed manual transmission and standard limited-slip differential.

According to Puritalia, the 427 has been in development for than 2 years and still more work needs to be done before it gets ready to hit the tarmac in 2016-17. The company also notified that only 427 such examples will be build, with the first 35 examples to be special ‘Launch Edition' cars.