Supercar maker Gumpert files for bankruptcy

The 750hp Gumpert Apollo S is a speed freak's dream, but its German builder has run out of cash.

Gumpert, German boutique carmaker and builder of the insane Apollo, is applying for provisional insolvency proceedings. Apparently there weren’t many takers for the company’s 750 horsepower creation. The court-appointed administrator, Gorge Scheid, says the outlook is positive, though.

Gumpert hoped to increase sales by expanding into China, but those plans fell through. Under court supervision, the company will concentrate on its European operations instead.

“It’s essential to reactive the European market,” Scheid said, “which has been neglected over the past years.” After touring the factory and talking with investors, Scheid said he was confident that Gumpert could pull itself out of insolvency. Production of the Apollo at Gumpert’s Altenburg, Germany plant will continue.

If Gumpert doesn’t make it, the world will lose something very special. The Apollo is a car built without compromise: literally nothing about it (including the company name) will appeal to anyone who is not a hardcore speed freak.

The company was founded by Roland Gumpert, a former Audi engineer who led the development of the quattro all-wheel drive system, and took Audi Sport to four World Rally Championship titles.

The body of the Apollo may look like it was designed by Willem de Kooning, but that mess of ductwork and gaping holes has a purpose: to generate grip by keeping air flowing over the car in the most efficient way possible, and to extract heat from the engine compartment and brakes.

The Apollo needs a racecar-style body to contend with its beast of an engine. The range-topping Apollo S packs 750 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque, courtesy of a tuned version of Audi’s 4.2-liter V8 (less powerful versions are available). For all that, Gumpert charges around $550,000.

The Apollo S can do 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds, and reach a top speed of 223 mph. Another version of the Apollo, the Speed, set the lap record at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschliefe, with a 7:11.57 run.

Even that did not satisfy Gumpert, so the company introduced two, more extreme Apollo variants. The Apollo R was a no-frills racer, with 860 hp and zero creature comforts. Since the Apollo R is not street legal, you’ll never see one at the local car show.

The limited edition Apollo Enraged was the most hardcore car Gumpert could make without breaking the law. This toned-down, street legal version of the Apollo R developed 780 hp, and only three were made.

Gumpert has been working on a completely new car, but it is unclear whether the company’s insolvency will kill that project. The Tornante was first shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and was said to produce around 700 hp.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Neil Armstrong to Have Private Funeral Friday

Neil Armstrong suiting up for Apollo 11, July 16, 1969. NASA.

Neil Armstrong, remembered after his death Saturday as a quiet man, is to have a quiet funeral on Friday near his Cincinnati home, NASA confirmed today. The service is to be private, though Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who called Armstrong “a good friend and adviser,” will be there for a eulogy. While there have been discussions of a national memorial service, nothing has been confirmed yet.

The White House issued a proclamation this afternoon that flags would fly at half-staff on Friday. The Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Armstrong’s birth place of Wapakoneta, Ohio, plans a tribute Wednesday night, and Purdue University in Indiana, where he studied engineering, announced a late-afternoon memorial today.  Streaming video can be found on the Purdue website.

So far everything is in keeping with his family’s description of him — “a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.”

Armstrong — who commanded the world’s attention in 1969 when he became the first human being to walk on the moon — died Saturday of complications following heart surgery.  His family would not say where he died, though he had spent the last several decades in his native Ohio.

There were tributes from around the world — from President Obama and Mitt Romney, from fellow astronauts and celebrities — but his family asked people to dispense with words.

Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty,” they said in their statement announcing his death, “and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com