ARES Design factory and Bentley Mulsanne.
ZURICH: The former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar's ARES Design coachbuilding company has just opened a an 18,000 square-metre plant in Modena, Italy, which will be a new home where its bespoke, coach-built cars will be designed, developed and built for customers all over the world.
To mark the auspicious occasion, Ares Design also released details of the first six cars to come out of its new Italian home.
These first six cars to be announced as part of this significant growth phase for the company that has been trading for three years were presented to groups including the global media, investors and clients of the ARES brand.
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
In what is now ARES's fourth year of trading, the first six cars released were all developed, designed and constructed through a network of expert suppliers working under ARES Design. But in January they all returned to base for the final quality sign-off of the vehicles, and where necessary, production was completed at the ARES Design Technical Centre.
One of the cars was a tweaked Bentley Mulsanne, two of which have been produced for two customers. The official name for the car is the ARES Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne, and this car is an interpretation of the second-generation Brooklands.
Another car is a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, which has been converted under the bodywork to modern mechanical standards. This one is a one-off creation and the result of 3,500 hours of work, according to ARES, and under the bonnet is a modern Chevy LS7 V-8.
Porsche 964 Targa.
"Presenting our amazing new facility and 10 ARES projects either on the road, in-build or at concept phase and due for release later in 2018, was an incredibly proud moment for me and our shareholders," said Bahar at the launch of the new factory.
"We believe we have found a sweet spot for bespoke automotive production: both in our location in Italy at the heart of the world of luxury cars, and in the market place for coach-building."
Among the other vehicles produced so far were ARES interpretations of a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, a classic Porsche 964 Targa, and a Land Rover Defender that will see ARES build 53 examples in supercharged and naturally aspirated form.
Land Rover Defender.
