These new Laffite electric hypercars will sound like ‘beautiful race engines’

A new electric hypercar company aims to plug the gaping hole that exists in the car market for low-volume, boutique, premium electric hypercars. Welcome to the first three models of a planned five-car range of low-volume, boutique, premium electric hypercars from Laffite Automobili.

While the idea to create such a range of cars is brand new, there are strands of familiarity running through the firm. Founder Bruno Laffite for example, is a professional driver himself and nephew to one Jacques Laffite, the six-time GP-winning former Ligier and Williams F1 driver.

The design team should ring a bell: all five cars have been designed by GFG Style, founded by Signore Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio. Oh, and the car that looks like an Extreme E refugee? We’ve been seeing various iterations of that as far back as 2017 when it was originally called the Zarooq Sand Racer.

Anyway, back to the shiny new stuff. Technical details on this range of groundbreaking new cars is thin at this stage, but we’re told the cars are fully electric. And in a genuinely new move, we’re told that they will feature a “revolutionary sound system” that together with the e-motor, aims to replicate the glorious sound of old race engines.

Each car – the race-car inspired ‘LM1’, the ‘Barchetta’ featuring that floating roofline, and the ‘Atrax’ (formerly known as the Zarooq, we think) – will be built in very limited numbers. “Between 24 and 26 copies,” we’re told. So, 25?

“Our primary goal was to create a brand that brings together the large family of motorsports,” explains Laffite Automobili co-founder Pascal Cohen. “It’s something unique, historic. That’s why I immediately had at heart not to produce one, but three cars and to immediately create this exceptional range of products.

“We are currently the only ones to offer these three types of cars,” he added.