Factory Five reveals build-it-yourself F9R supercar

Factory Five is a small, Massachusetts-based company that makes kits for enthusiasts who want to build their own car, Ikea-style. Shortly after unveiling its next-generation chassis during the 2019 SEMA show, the firm released computer-generated renderings of the body designed to go over it.

Named F9R, the track-ready supercar adopts an elongated, low-slung design that’s a little Aston Martin-like when viewed from certain angles. Its long hood reveals it’s front-engined, unlike its mid-engined predecessor, and the use of composite materials like carbon fiber keeps weight in check. Factory Five expects the 46-inch high, 80-inch wide F9R will weigh less than 2,400 pounds. 

The design is by Phil Frank, the man who drew the Saleen S7, and Jim Schenk. The duo spent nearly a year working on the car, relying largely on a software named Rhinoceros 3D. The F9R depicted in the video below was envisioned as a race car. Factory Five hopes to offer a street-legal model named F9 with a less aggressive design, but it hasn’t released images of it.

The chassis displayed at SEMA used a 9.5-liter V12 engine tuned to 700 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque. Alternatively, enthusiasts can install a crate engine from Ford or Chevrolet.

Factory Five will build the first F9R in early 2020, and it expects to begin testing the model shortly after. Pricing information remains under wraps; the car hasn’t even been approved for production yet. The company explained it poured a lot of time and resources into developing the F9R, but whether it makes the leap towards production depends on how the testing phase goes, how much it costs to manufacture, what it sells for, and, ultimately, whether it all makes sense from a business standpoint.