The Pininfarina Fittipaldi EF7 is a 600bhp naturally-aspirated V8-powered track car, launched in partnership with twice-F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi and the Italian design house. It’s on show in Geneva.
Fittipaldi hopes the EF7 will offer easy-to-access driving thrills for drivers looking for a simple circuit-day ownership experience.
Styled by Pininfarina and engineered by HWA, the German race engineering company owned by Hans Werner Aufrecht, a founder of AMG, the EF7 is built around a two-piece carbon fibre tub and a brand new 4.8-litre V8 engine mated to a six-speed Hewland gearbox.
“We are designing a high-revving engine that makes a great noise and is connected to a very easy to drive chassis. We want people to be able to feel it on the track and be simple to drive,” said Fittipaldi, who won the F1 championship in 1972 and 1974 and is a double Indy 500 winner.
“I will help the owners set-up the car and then the day at the circuit should be simple, just set-up the tyre pressures and no need for a team of engineers to keep it running,” he said.
A production run of 25 cars is planned, but prices have yet to be revealed. HWA will build the EF7 at its Afalterbach factory.
Fittipaldi is targeting a sub-1000kg kerb weight, and to keep weight down, the engine and gearbox will be bolted directly to the carbon tub and engineered as a structural member to support suspension loads.
Traction control and anti-lock brakes will be engineered and set-up to make the EF7 “very driveable”.
The carbon tub is designed to be very safe in a side-impact and the cockpit sized to be roomy and comfortable to sit-in.