Never too Much Ego

Behold , this is one of my favourite cars of all time.

The Rinspeed Mono Ego.

Quoting Serious Wheels:


World Première at the 1997 Geneva Motor Show.

Rinspeed Mono Ego – the First Single-seater Car in the World that's Licensed for the Road!

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Rinspeed Design AG company, Frank M. Rinderknecht (41) has come up with something very special: the Swiss automobile tuner has created a vehicle that blends traditional beauty and forward-looking technology in a most impressive way – the Rinspeed Mono Ego.

The Style:
Fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who numbers champagne producer Pommery among his clients, has transformed the Mono Ego into a mobile work of art, gleaming in the colors of the tricolore and decorated with miniature angels and other emblems created specially for the Mono Ego. The leather seat, for instance, has a transparent cover into which colored feathers have been sewn. A more exclusive sense of style would be difficult to find on the automobile scene!

To display the artistry of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac in its full splendor, Burg Design digitized all the design material by a special high-tech process. This Austrian company concentrates on decor requirements for special-series vehicles and on high-tech interior applications. Among the processes it has developed is Evotec, which gives decals a three-dimensional visual effect. It is used on the Mono Ego to render the close-fitting fenders almost invisible; a cleverly simulated tire tread effect adds to the optical illusion.


The Tires:
The Dunlop company contributed the tires: as one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires for high-volume motor vehicles and also of high-performance tires, it possesses an immense amount of experience. Frank M. Rinderknecht explains: "At the moment, no production tires of the size we needed are available, and so we had to approach a manufacturer capable of responding flexibly and rapidly to our request. Dunlop certainly lived up to its high reputation here.

The Wheels:
Antera took up the challenge of producing wheels to carry these special Dunlop tires. An Italian company, it is famous for its avant-garde wheel designs and for the unusual technical principles which it adopts. For example, the tire valve is hidden behind the hub cover so that the wheel's overall appearance is not affected by the valve protruding from the rim.

The suspension:
In the running-gear area, Rinspeed was able to call upon the services of the Eibach company, the leading international manufacturer of suspension components. Eibach Suspension Technology, which as its name implies specializes in such matters and supplies the world's top motor sport entrants including the McLaren Formula 1 team, undertook to develop the suspension struts and stabilizers for the Rinspeed Mono Ego. Eibach certainly justified its reputation: for the Mono Ego it designed competition shock absorbers with four adjustment settings – a world première.

The Exhaust system:
Austrian specialist company Remus developed a free-flow exhaust system for the Rinspeed Mono Ego.

The Sound Insulation:
The Swiss company Rieter Automotive Systems provided the floor carpeting, of truly magnificent quality, for the Rinspeed Mono Ego.

The Interior:
The German Classic Interiors company took on the task of finishing the interior to the highest possible standards.

The miscellaneous components:
The headlights, rear lights and mirrors are among the few components not crafted by hand for the Mono Ego. They are taken from the Hyundai Tiburon Coupé.

The ICE:
Thanks to a hi-fi radio and CD installation from Philips Car Systems, the open-topped Rinspeed Mono Ego none the less achieves high standards of audio reproduction. Nor does the driver have to feel that he or she is alone in the wide, wide world: Carin is a sympathetic companion on the longest journeys. This is the name given to Philips Car Systems' first class navigation system

The Builder:
TLC Carossiers Inc. Took on the task of building up the complete Rinspeed Mono Ego.

The Transporter:
The air-freight specialist Lufthansa carried out the safe, reliable and timely transport of the Mono Ego to make a flawless and on-time debut in front of the world press in Geneva.

The Techs:
Under the dramatic body, power is supplied in plenty by a 32-valve aluminum-block V8 engine; it is supercharged and develops no less than 410 bhp (maximum boost pressure 0.35 bar).

This engine whisks the single-seater Mono Ego from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 4.8 seconds, with a top speed of 258 km/h attainable when conditions permit.

The aluminum body gives the Mono Ego an exceptionally rigid structure and a gross weight of only 960 kilograms, with the result that its power-to-weight ratio would be the envy of many a driver of exclusive Italian sports cars.

The Rinspeed Mono Ego is 4623 millimeters long, almost equaling a Mercedes-Benz E, for instance, yet about 700 kg lighter.

It has a 5-speed manual-shift gearbox, and independent suspension all round with 16-inch wheels and tires of unusual sizes (245/65 at the front, 275/70 at the rear).

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An Amazing work of art.

And so limited , you have to be only marginally south of Mr Gates to own one.

That's a lot of Ego there.

Q