Dubai: Dubai is all set to become the manufacturing hub of the Arab world’s first luxury supercar brand — the Lykan Hypersport, Ralph R. Debbas, CEO and Managing Director of the Lebanese car manufacturers W Motors, told XPRESS.
“We moved our offices to Dubai at the beginning of this year. The design centre is here, the office, engineering are all based here and next year we are moving the factory here as well from Italy. Now that we have built our first car, we know how to do it. We can proudly say that the company is 100 per cent Arab,” said Debbas giving an exclusive tour of the first ever Lykan Hypersport, a gunmetal grey 2014 edition showcased earlier this year at the Qatar Motor Show and unveiled as a concept car at the Dubai Motor Show last year.
Dubbed the most exclusive car in the world, the Lykan Hypersport will be eventually limited to only seven individuals in the world, all priced upward of $3.4 million (Dh12.4 million).
Car owners will also receive a Cyrus Klepcys watch worth approximately $200,000. Debbas, who belongs to a family of entrepreneurs in Lebanon says he has plans to make six more in the emirate.
“The factory will be operational in Dubai by 2014. We will start with assembly, and within three years see the full production of the Hypersport and the Supersport category,” he said.
Reminiscent of the famous Batmobile and inspired by a Lycanthrope, the mythical werewolf, the mean machine will be offered in two trim levels — Lykan Hypersport and a slightly tamer Lykan Supersport.
“I wanted to do something different than other manufacturers. So the idea was to create something new, something even more exclusive, more luxurious and more technologically advanced than anything in the market,” he says.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day, stresses the graduate from England’s prestigious Coventry School of Art & Design. “It took us many years to set up this company up and today we have 18 companies involved in our project. Each one of them helps us with a different component and ensures that every element in the car is made by the best expert in the world.
“The project started with a dream and now its a reality. It’s an achievement in the automobile industry as we have managed to bring these all these companies together to work our project. We have about 185 people working on it day and night, and that’s an incredible achievement,” he adds.
Lykan’s list of partners are impressive. In addition to RUF Automobile, W Motors has collaborations with automotive supply giant Magna Steyr and Italian design house Studio Torino, not to mention ID4Motion who are working on a new digital cluster with an unique customisable performance screen.
“Dubai is the capital of luxury. Everyone here wants to do something bigger and better and our car fits the idea. It’s the most luxurious, advanced and the most expensive car. We want to base ourselves here and want everyone to come here, internationally or locally, and help build this car,” explains the 26-year old.
His shiny black suit and neatly manicured stubble should hardly be the hallmark of a man behind the world’s first Arab-made luxury supercar brand, but Debbas knows he needs nothing else. His ‘modern machine with a human touch’ with a diamond-encrusted cockpit and the Hypersport’s holographic display, does the talking.
That’s not all though. “For the first time in history a car made in the Arab world will be used in arguably the biggest Hollywood production right here,” he added.
A confidentiality clause doesn’t allow Debbas to name the film in which the Hypersport will be used, but no prizes for guessing that whoever owns the first Lykan Hypersport 2014 will also have a sheer piece of history.
