Keating launches SKR and TKR supercars
Keating SKR supercar will be available to buy from £90K - heady territory
Author: Robin Brown
Published: 24 April 2008
British sports car company Keating Supercars has launched the SKR grand tourer and TKR track car in North-West England on the St George's Day, with MotorTorque in attendance.
The north-west outfit is the latest in a line of small British sports car manufacturers to take on the might of Italian, German and American supercars, and will aim to avoid the pitfalls of many other small UK outfits who tend to have chequered lives.
The models were launched yesterday in Southport, where the cars will be assembled to order, and will be available to order within six months.
SKR and TKR
The SKR model will be available in four guises, with the base model powered by a 400bhp V8 from General Motors. Pitched as a GT, the SKR is partnered by the track model TKR - available as a carbon fibre construct with specs going all the way up to 1500bhp.
Keating trumpeted performance figures that promised to beat the Bugatti Veyron in the run-up to the press release, but said yesterday that although a prototype was on the cards no such vehicle would be immediately available.
The SKR will be available in 400bhp, 500bhp and supercharged 520bhp and 650bhp options, with base models starting at around £90K.
The donor engine from GM is a 6.0-litre petrol V8 in the 400bhp model, mid-mounted and sending power to the rear wheels through a transaxle. All other versions will be powered by GM's 7.0-litre lump.
The TKR track cars will be powered by twin-turbo blocks with power hitting the rarified heights of almost 1600bhp, according to owner and designer Tony Keating.
Nearly all of the SKR's components can be specified, with the interior available as fully bespoke. A carbon fibre body shell can also be specified.
Production of the TKR will only begin once the run-out of the SKR is completed.
Who will buy?
Keating's main task, now that the cars have hit the production line and completed shakedown, will be to shift units, but at £90K a pop who will buy the SKR?
Tony Keating is hoping to attract those passionate about British sports cars, and successfully take the SKR up against well-known European marques such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Audi and Mercedes.
The TKR is a different matter altogether: the 1000bhp model is likely to go into battle purely and squarely against the Koenigseggs, Zondas and even Veyrons of this world, assuming it sees the light of day.
Faced with competition like that, Keating has a battle on his hands, but a tilt at the world land speed record - hinted at yesterday - could win this little British company a lot of international attention.
Keating Supercars
The models are the brainchild of Anthony Keating, who found the time to get Keating Supercars off the ground while running his Electromech power engineering firm.
Keating has been working for eight years on bringing the TKR and SKR to production, and is supported by a staff of around a dozen.
At pains to stress how British the SKR and TKR really are, Keating contrasted the fortunes of British manufacturers that have been sold to overseas companies - of particular resonance given Jaguar and Land Rover's recent sale.
Keating also invoked British sports car manufacturers that he hoped to emulate, but the fortunes of TVR - amongst others - will be an ominous lesson in the fate that often befalls such low-volume manufacturers.
It's to be hoped from Tony Keating's point of view that developing the SKR - and its bigger TKR brother - wasn't the easy part.
Workers and unions downcast as TVR production looks likely to be moved abroad following second buyout by Smolenski
The British car industry: Who owns who; what names might return; and whatever happened to Austin, Rover and Morris?
Despite having more power than a fully-loaded F1 weapon - enough to tackle a Veyron by all accounts - Brit supercar manufacturer Keating is keeping tight-lipped.
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