There’s now a working prototype of the bonkers V12-hybrid Delage D12

How’s your memory when it comes to 1,000bhp+ hypercars? Well, if it’s better than ours you’ll remember that back in 2020 entrepreneur Laurent Tapie announced plans to bring back French manufacturer Delage with a wild-looking V12-engined road car. 

Yes, we did say road car, although we’re not quite sure how well it’ll cope with speed bumps and potholes. The good news is that Delage says it now has a working prototype that has been testing at Magny-Cours in France. Said prototype will also tour the US later this year for potential customers to have a test drive. Sounds promising.

The D12 is set to be a $2.3million tandem two-seater with a 7.6-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine connected to an electric motor for 1,100bhp in ‘GT’ trim and 1,010bhp in its lighter, more track-focussed ‘Club’ iteration. Click here to read our original story for more info. 

Apparently the first examples will be delivered to American Delage customers in the second half of 2023, with 10 making their way to the US and 20 more for the rest of the world.

Reckon Delage can pull it off?