Cars don’t come much more striking than the Donkervoort F22. The car just looks like it will go fast; it looks space-age yet classic too. It’s certainly an eye-catching piece of work from the family-owned Dutch supercar manufacturer.
The Donkervoort F22 is a road-legal supercar and will replace the company’s outgoing Caterham Seven-inspired Donkervoort D8 which was introduced in 1993. Donkervoort says that this is an upgrade all round, with increased levels of speed, improved design and practicality.
You can certainly see that the Caterham inspiration remains, inspired of course by Donkervoort coming into existence following the company’s owner importing Caterham sports cars to the Netherlands in the 1970s. The new F22 features the same proportionally relaxed long bonnet and tight rear end as a Caterham, but it’s here that comparisions end.
Arriving at 264mm longer than the D8, the interior is surprisingly roomy, with 100mm of that extra length going straight into benefitting the cabin. Extra cabin room wasn’t the main reason for the additional length though, as Donkervoort says that the longer F22 features improved aerodynamic performance and allows for a more relaxed windscreen angle to improve air flow.
The whole supercar weighs in at a measly 750kg – just 55kg more than the D8. The new car gets a carbon-fibre tubular chassis design which aside from being lightweight, increases torsional stiffness too.
Power comes from a 2.5-litre turbocharged 5-cylinder engine, which Donkervoort has tuned to provide 500bhp, and offers a 0-62mph of just under 2.6 seconds – and the rear-wheel drive, track-inspired F22 will reach a top speed of 180 miles per hour. Rev-matching tech is included and mated to a lightweight 5-speed gearbox. Adjustable suspension is all new for the F22 and even allows you to adjust damping and the ride height on the fly. The F22 features LSD and adjustable traction control and Bosch ABS too. As well as all this, the Donkervoort F22 can be tailored and customised to your personal preferences as might expect.
A great selling point is that the company proudly claims thar 99 percent of all Donkervoorts ever built are still on the road, thanks to the replaceability and repairability of all parts, which is a great selling point of course. Donkervoort had planned on producing only 50 units, but due to the excitement and demand generated since announcing the F22, this has now been upped to 75 units. Who knows, if you keep buying this fantastic looking car, they may make some more.
Images: donkervoort.com
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