The Donkervoort GT0-RS Roadster Is A Barely-Legal Beast

The eye-catching Dutch ride is lean, mean and ready to burn up the street.

If the Donkervoort D8 GTO-RS resembles a 21st-century Lotus 7 roadster, there’s good reason: the Dutch company launched in 1978 as a builder of Lotus 7 replicas. Rather than be trapped by the past, however, Donkervoort has evolved that car’s concept.

In the D8 GTO-RS (was this car named by the same person responsible for the McLaren MP-4 12C?), we see that same proportion and stance, with a long hood, open cockpit practically between the rear wheels, and the front wheels standing apart from the body and hugged by cycle fenders.

The company hasn’t released detailed specifications of this new RS, but says it will be faster and more powerful than the regular D8 GTO. That car’s 380-horsepower turbocharged Audi 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine accelerates to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds, and Donkervoort promises the RS will be faster still.

The RS has a wider track front suspension for better handling and an all-new brake system for shorter stops. A carbon fiber central tunnel section trims the weight of the RS so it is even lighter than the 1,530-lb. D8 GTO. As with the original Lotus, the D8-GTO’s speed secret is its light weight.

Donkervoort plans to build 40 of the $173,000 RS versions, and says 21 of them are already sold, so it’s time to make your move.

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