It’s mean, it’s extremely powerful and it’s made in America. The Falcon Motors F7 is a mid-engine supercar that boasts a carbon fibre body built on an aluminum and carbon fibre monocoque chassis.
The F7 is equipped with a Chevrolet sourced 7.0L V8 that produces 620 hp and 585 lb-ft of torque as well as a 6-speed manual gearbox. According to Falcon Motors, the car weighs in at 2,785 lbs and can reach 200 mph. The car shown in this video is the first production example of the F7.
And now, straight from 255 Elm Street, Holly, Michigan…
It reads like the address of a Midwestern primary school, but that’s where the Falcon F7 supercar has been developed and is now being assembled. What we have here is the first customer car ready to be delivered, but first visiting the Detroit show.
Based on an aluminum/carbon fiber monocoque and said to boast “…a solid, testosterone driven personality,” the mid-engine F7 sells for $195,000-$250,000. The body is carbon-fiber, the pushrod-type suspension honed from aluminum billets. Steering is rack and pinion with electric assist.
Falcon claims a curb weight of 2785 lb. for the F7, and says it hits 60 mph in 3.3 to 3.5 seconds. This blistering pace is provided by a 7.0-liter Chevrolet V-8 tuned to 620 bhp and 585 lb.-ft. of torque. Spun through a 6-speed transaxle, it would ultimately take the F7 to a top speed of 190 to 200 mph. On a skidpad, the F7 is said to generate as much as 1.3g.
Falcon plans to build and sell 15 cars in its first full year of production, raising that to 25 the second year and 100 or more in subsequent years.
DETROIT (WJBK) — There’s a sexy new sports car on display at the auto show. It’s hand-built in Michigan with a big new engine from General Motors. It could be yours, if the price is right.
620 horsepower, zero to 60 in 3.3 seconds, 200 miles-per-hour — meet the Falcon F7.
“All the cars that I really, really wanted were too expensive for me. I don’t have a lot of money. I’m not a super rich man. I can’t go buy a Lamborghini Adventador or one of those really great super cars,” said Jeff Lemke, who created the Falcon. “I actually felt that there was a missing market, believe it or not, in the $200,000 range.”
Lemke had a dream to build a super car from his own vision of what he wanted to drive, and he’s building it right here in Michigan.
“The chassis is built in Clinton Township. That’s designed by a race car designer. We build the body panels in Holly, and we assemble the car in Holly. The seats are sown in Waterford. This is a very Michigan car,” he explained.
The actual car unveiled at the auto show on Tuesday is already sold in the neighborhood of $225,000 to a customer in New York.
Lemke himself doesn’t get his hands on one until spring.
“You cannot find an aluminum model COG chassis, all carbon fiber body, super light weight, high horsepower type of raw vehicle for that price range,” Lemke said.
Stop by and check out the Falcon F7 when the auto show opens to the public. It’s one of the baddest rides on the floor.
Everyone knows Detroit hosts the most important auto show in North America – and automakers don’t hold back when it comes to flaunting their newest cars to the thousands of journalists who pack the halls before the event goes public.
This year the hottest things in the mix have an eye toward efficiency and a glance back at heritage. Mercedes-Benz unveiled its 2013 SL roadster, the latest model in its 60-year-old gullwing-famous line. The $148,000 car is 250 pounds lighter than its predecessor with 40-percent improved efficiency–but also has 12 percent more horsepower and goes 0-60mph in 4.6 seconds with its 500 SL V8. Click here for full pictures and more specs.
Also new on the floor is Bentley’s 2013 Continental GT V8, a 500-horsepower variant with aggressive detailing and curved body lines that make it look ready to pounce. Plus a new red Bentley badge on front, new figure-eight tailpipes and a new “Dragon Red” paint job.
Red seemed to be a popular color on the floor this year (is it because it looks best with the black dresses on the models?). Porsche debuted its 911 Carrera cabriolet in a bright cherry hue–the car, though perhaps understated in its lines, uses a novel top with fewer visible supports that create a more natural arch across the car.
Audi also embraced the trend, showing its TT RS–complete with red-tinged rims–and Q3 Vail edition SUV in a searing rouge. It was a marked imrovement from last year’s chocolate brown R8 Spyder (PR reps continue to say buyers genuinely like the brown tones these days, though some may beg to differ…). This year the R8 Spyder on display was a subtler matte the color of the Detroit River on a good day (blue, that is).
The folks at Michigan-based Falcon are still embracing the brown trend, apparently. Their Falcoln F7 supercar smacks of ’70s angles and ’70s bronze tones–which appeals to a lot of people, one man assured his companion while they contemplated the car. F7′s performace numbers could also help the appeal: a 620-hp 7-liter V8 engine with a 0-60mph time of 3. 6 seconds. Top speed is 200 miles per hour (click here to figure out how to buy the thing).
Of course BMW’s electric i8 concept on display is famous for its cameo in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. And Cadillac’s 270-hp four-cylindar ATS caused quite a ripple when the automaker unveiled it Sunday night.
Tesla’s Model S sedan attracted a similarly excited contingent of Asian journalists fascinated by the in-house technology and unique unibody frame that characterize Elon Musk’s $49,900 electric sedan. (This is the car reputedly faster than an Aston Martin, safer than a Panamera and more efficient than a Volt–it Musk can pull it off, it’ll crown Tesla as the most forward-thinking brand of its time and change the auto industry nationwide).
It wasn’t always like this. Last year at the North American International Auto Show proved decidedly more dull: listless hallways, relatively empty cocktail hours. Most of the international press, if they attended at all, left halfway through the second official day of press previews–and that was a better showing than in 2009.
This year hotel rooms at prime spots sold out months in advance; even a month prior to the show the only decent rooms available were located in nearby Dearborn. What’s more, walkways between automaker booths yesterday during the media preview were crammed; press conferences on the large floor allowed standing room only.
And if cynical automotive journalists think there’s something worth seeing in Detroit, you know it’s going to be a good year. Click through the slideshow to see the hottest cars on the floor this year.
Mach7 Motorsports waltzed into the 2011 Detroit Auto Show with a killer new machine that was poised to further represent America in the supercar war of the worlds. Turns out, that was just a prototype and they’re back in Detroit again to reveal their polished Falcon F7. The new Falcon F7 supercar will go on sale at a starting price of $195,000, with some versions heading up to $250,000. Mach7 Motorsports hopes to produce fifteen cars in the first year, twenty- five plus cars in the second year, and then consistently produce one hundred or more cars in each of the following years.
The Falcon F7 will feature an all carbon-fiber body, an aluminum/carbon fiber monocoque chassis, a billet suspension, an extreme power to weight ratio, and hand-crafted interiors. It is powered by a 7.0 liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 620 HP at 6600 rpm and 585 lb-ft of torque at 5400 rpm. With the extra power, the Falcon F7 will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3-3.6 seconds and will hit a top speed somewhere between 190 to 200 mph.
Exterior and Interior
After over three years of development and safety testing in the racing industry, the Falcon F7 is finally ready for its first customer. Falcon hopes to offer a cheaper alternative to the much more expensive supercar existing out there. The F7’s body is made up entirely of carbon fiber combined with an aluminum/carbon fiber monocoque chassis that will keep the car’s weight at a lower 2,785 lbs.
“The manufacturing experience to fabricate and build the Falcon F7 was derived from first hand experience plus many years in the component manufacturing business as well as the development and fabrication of the primary prototype. The aluminum monocoque chassis provided by Superlite cars in Clinton Township, is proven in racecar design with over three years of development and safety testing in the racing industry. The chassis is a proven winner, consistently coming in first place, in unlimited class racing events.”
The Falcon F7 will sit on 20″ forgeline wheels with Michelin 275/35 front and 335/30 rear high performance tires.
Engine
The Mach7 Motorsports Falcon F7 is powered by a 7.0 liter V8 engine combined with a 6-speed transaxle that together deliver a total of 620 HP at 6600 rpm and a peak torque of 585 lb-ft at 5400 rpm. This setup will sprint the F7 from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 – 3.6 seconds and up to a top speed of 190-200 mph. The quarter mile is done in 10.9 seconds, while the 60 mph to 0 braking is done in under 100 feet.
The Falcon F7 is equipped with a fully independent pushrod type suspension with CNC machined aluminum billet rockers, coil-over dampers with external reservoirs, and hydraulically assisted, Bosch anti-lock components and electronics system.
Prices
The new Falcon F7 supercar will go on sale at a starting price of ranging from $195,000 to $250,000. Falcon hopes to produce fifteen cars in the first year, twenty- five plus cars in the second year, and then consistently produce one hundred or more cars in each of the following years.
Competition
The Mach7 Motorsports Falcon F7 is a cheaper alternative to American models like the Saleen S7 and the SSC Ultimate Aero. Launched in 2001, the Saleen S7 is priced at about $555,000 – making the F7 a bargain. The S7 also only delivers 550 HP compared to the Falcon F7’s 620 HP. Fighting with the Ultimate Aero is a bit harder for the F7 because SSC supercar delivers a total of 1,183 HP and can hit a top speed of 270 mph. Of course, it also comes priced at $650,000.
Many of the big fancy brands steer clear of the main floor at Cobo, and all of them throw a special pre-party at MGM Grand for the region’s fancy big-spenders, called “The Gallery.” All the usual suspects were present–Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lingenfelter, Maserati, Morgan, Rolls-Royce and others. Among the most interesting of these “others” was Falcon Motorsports, a company, best known for making body modification kits for Dodge Vipers, based in Holly Michigan, just north of Detroit. On display was the first production version of the F7 concept displayed at last year’s NAIAS .
F7 Concept
Falcon designed and produces the carbon-fiber two-chamber intake for the LS7 engine.VIN 001 runs a modified version of Chevrolet’s LS7 engine, upgraded with a custom carbon-fiber intake manifold that employs separate plenums for each cylinder bank and long intake runners. Along with a host of other improvements, the engine’s output jumps to 620 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque–plenty of oomph to motivate 2785 pounds of car. All that twist gets routed through a six-speed Ricardo transaxle like that of the late, great Ford GT. Like the Aventador parked nearby, all body panels are made of carbon-fiber. Unlike the Lambo, the frame is a hydroformed tube chassis and the body panels are made of pre-impregnated autoclaved sheet carbon fiber that only lends itself to very low volumes (the hope is to build 20 Falcon F7s per year, priced at $225,000). Most of the suspension is Corvette based.
Exposed aluminum elements from the monocoque give purposeful look to interior.The biggest visual change from last year is the interior, which gets a lot more supercar sparkle from the Spyker school of design. The gauges are in milled aluminum pods, mounted to aluminum arches that allow for adjustment of the gauge pods so as to be viewed through the steering wheel or over the top of the wheel (as shown here). The switchgear is also aircraft inspired, with toggle switches that include an ignition switch under a red protective flap. The Venzano leather interior is also of a much higher specification.
Elements of Ferrari design language are clearly present from behind.Company representative Jason Verbrugghe says the Falcon is an extreme car developed for serious drivers. Obviously a car this large weighing only 2785 pounds has little mass devoted to creature comforts and sound deadening. It’s all devoted to 6-piston calipers, big rotors, and that honking engine. We look forward to our first opportunity to test drive this mid-engine, Midwestern missile. For more info, www.FalconF7.com.
Headlamps are aftermarket units designed for the Dodge Avenger.
They’ve flown to Detroit — many on their own jets — to sit inside some of the most luxurious cars in the world. Cars you won’t see written about from Cobo Center when the North American International Auto Show opens to the media Monday.
For the fifth year, 500 American Express Black Card members were selected to attend The Gallery at the MGM Grand Casino tonight.
More than two dozen cars from around the world, each one valued at $225,000 and up, sat on display at the event inside a heavily guarded room on the upper level of the Detroit casino.
“I think it’s something no one else is doing,” NAIAS Executive Director Rod Alberts said. “…You find a lot of shows that will be focused just with one brand, but it’s like a mini auto show on steroids of sort. It’s an ultra luxury, uber-luxury and only 28 cars because there are not a lot of cars in that bracket.”
Organizers estimate the event generates about $3 million in sales each year.
“We’ve had a gentleman buy one for his wife for her anniversary, right on the spot,” Alberts said. “She gets in the Bentley, goes, ‘I love this car,’ and he goes, ‘Happy anniversary.’”
Included at this year’s event are cars by Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Mach 7 Motor Sports, a Michigan-based company, featuring the Falcon F7 Series One.
“We are building these in Holly, Michigan,” Falcon Motor Sports marketing director Noel Thompson said. “And we’re real excited about it.”
The F7 actually premiered at last year’s NAIAS with the name Mach 7. Because of the overwhelming response, Falcon decided to start building it. The first one, with a sticker price of $250,000, is already sold.
“We have not officially tested this yet,” Thompson said, “but based on power-to-weight ratio we’re looking at probably between 190 to 200 miles per hour top speed and zero to 60 in 3.2 to 3.6 seconds, someplace in there.”
Most of the F7 is handmade. Twelve more are slated for production this year, with another 25 to be built in 2013.
“We don’t plan on growing this into a mass production vehicle at all. We plan on keeping it small and intimate,” Thompson said. “A lot of times people want what they can’t have. It’s nice to know that if you purchase one of these cars you’re going to have only one of 25 that’s available.”
Famed Chef Wolfgang Puck, who prepared the dinner for The Gallery guests at the Detroit casino, was seen browsing the luxury cars, including Bentley, during the media event this afternoon.
Although the event was not open to the public, organizers released tickets for 100 people, at a cost of $500 each.
