This year’s New York Auto Show was canceled, just as it was in 2020, due to COVID-19. To fill at least some of the void, and offer respite to our interminable winter of discontent, Manhattan Motorcars decided at least one evening this summer should be dedicated to celebrating automotive passion. So Manhattan Motorcars threw its own mini concours with a dozen of the choicest hypercars on the planet at its New York City luxury dealership.
“We do the New York Auto Show every year and have one of the most prominent booths,” says Robert Marchhart of Manhattan Motorcars. “We’re the company that displays all the newest hypercars, and we’re right in the center of the show.”
The dealership was preparing to stock its booth for the 2021 show, when event organizers pulled the plug.
“We already had all the manufacturers slated to send us their cars,” Marchhart says. “So as soon as we got word it was going to be canceled, I reached out to every manufacturer and said, ‘Hey, we have this incredible space in New York City at our dealership and would love to put on a hypercars showcase.’ ”
@Tim.Malkovich/Courtesy of Manhattan Motorcars
A different kind of car show
The event went off under a starry sky with the glow of the city’s lights. Customers and invited guests were able to ogle millions of dollars worth of dealership wares, snapping picks for Instagram, sipping drinks, and rapping about performance.
As it turns out, if you happen to be in the market for a seven-figure hypercar, there are only a handful of places in the U.S. with the breadth of selection that Manhattan Motorcars offers. Along with more widely available options from Porsche and Bentley, the firm can help connoisseurs obtain rare whips from Lamborghini, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, and Rimac.
“There are about four of us under one roof that have that many hypercar brands and prestigious brands—like Porsche and Lamborghini,” Marchhart says. Plus the group has family owners. “Manhattan Motorcars has been around for almost 40 years. We’re still owned by the same exact family, so that’s another great benefit we have over bigger groups. That’s why we can do certain things, like the hypercar showcase, because we have that little bit of extra pull—like the really cool, one-of-a-kind cars that came directly from Pebble Beach.”
For those in the market, here are a half-dozen of our favorite hypercars from the Manhattan Motorcars NYC showcase.
Courtesy of Manhattan Motorcars
1. Rimac Concept_One
Rimac Automobili’s fully electric Concept_One is a truly bonkers hypercar. The batteries crank out a jaw-dropping 1224 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque, according to the Croatian automaker. All that power gets the Concept_One from 0 to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds and up to a top speed of 220 mph. There’s also a decent off-track 210-mile range (under more subdued driving conditions.) This example is one of eight produced, with only seven surviving after Richard Hammond’s infamous crash during an episode of The Grand Tour.
Bugatti has long been a byword for unbridled speed and power. This iteration of its Chiron model was designed in conjunction with race car chassis builder Dallara. It’s not just faster than the Sport model, but also more comfortable in daily driving situations. Sixteen cylinders deployed in a ‘W’ configuration generate 1577 horsepower. This gets the Chiron to 124 mph in 5.8 seconds, which is faster than most cars get to 60. With a limited top speed of 273, this Bugatti is less an automobile and more of a road-going rocket ship.
The sequentially turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-three-cylinder engine of the Koenigsegg Gemera kicks out an impressive 592 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque. That’s a staggering amount of power on its own. But the Gemera is actually a hybrid with three electric motors to boot. Combined, the juiced-up beast throws down 1677 horsepower and boasts a 0 to 62mph time of 1.9 seconds. Unlike most hypercars, the Gemera has four seats, so there’s room for the whole speed-loving family.
McLaren’s Senna LM packs the same punch as its track-only Senna GTR version but in a street-legal package. An elegant 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 slaps out 814 horsepower and will get to 60 in well under 3 seconds. Only about 20 examples are available, so not only is it ‘hyper’ in performance, but in exclusivity as well.
The Huracán STO is a Lamborghini born for the street but groomed for the track. Lightweight and sporting a massive rear wing, it’s race ready. It also has a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, perfect for those aficionados who love a thunderous exhaust note. Plus it kicks out 631 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque, rocketing to 60 mph in a scant 2.6 seconds.
6. GTO Engineering’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione Replica
For fans who want a vintage car experience, but would rather shirk the responsibility of driving around in an irreplaceable museum piece, UK-based GTO Engineering makes a replica of Ferrari’s legendary Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione. For about a tenth of the cost of the vintage article, enthusiasts get a new-old V12 and a four-speed manual transmission plugged into one of the most beautiful Ferrari designs ever produced for a transcendently pure driving experience.
