Wild V8 Genesis supercar set for cabrio and hardcore ‘GT3’

Genesis will offer a full family of variants of its forthcoming mid-engined Magma GT – including a drop-top and a hardcore GT3 road car. 

Unveiled in concept form, the Porsche 911 and McLaren 720S rival will arrive later this decade as the basis of a new GT3 race car.

But while homologation rules for the class require only 250 road-legal versions to be made, Genesis creative director Luc Donckerwolke confirmed that the Korean brand is planning a substantially larger production run. 

The GT will be the only Genesis vehicle that is offered purely as a hot Magma model from the firm’s new performance line and Donckerwolke said the version shown so far is “the base model”. 

“We will add S, GTS, roadster, lightweight, club sport, a GT3 road car, a GT3 R for track use,” he said. 

“It’s a complete life cycle of products to offer different possibilities to customers that will combine performance and luxury inside.” 

Donckerwolke acknowledged that the concept version was powered by a V8 engine but said a final decision on the production model’s powerplant has yet to be made and will be driven by both customer demand and the requirements of the GT3 class. 

While the decision to offer a full line of Magma GT variants will draw comparison with the 911, Donckerwolke said it took inspiration from “clever life-cycle management” but wasn’t conceived as a direct rival: “Our design and engineering will be completely different and applying the Genesis recipe of refinement and athletic performance will give it special positioning.” 

Hyundai Motor Group tech chief Manfred Harrer, who previously worked at Porsche on the 911, added: “We cannot go up against such an icon. We have to find our own way.”

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