It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about Dubai’s 5000-hp supercar, the mythical Devel Sixteen. Following the unveiling of a new prototype at last year’s Dubai Motor Show, a very brief video emerged earlier this year showing the car in motion. But transitioning from a prototype to a production-ready car is a huge undertaking for startup companies requiring significant time and investment, which is why many ambitious hypercar projects fail to get off the ground. According to a report by Road and Track, the Devel Sixteen is unlikely to enter production any time soon as the company is facing several setbacks.
Since the project began, Paolo Garella’s company Manufattura Automobili Torino (MAT) has worked with Devel to develop and engineer the insanely powerful hypercar. While MAT is currently developing the Ferrari-powered reborn Stratos, a source told Road and Track the company is no longer involved with the Devel Sixteen project.
The car’s highly-touted 12.3-liter V12 may have 5,007 horsepower, but it was built specifically for drag racing and doesn’t have a cooling system for road use. Worse still, the team is having a hard time trying to figure out how to keep the car on the ground at speeds of over 300 mph. When MAT left the project, the source said the car was “still acting pretty much like a giant wing.”
Devel has been working on the Sixteen for five years now, but it still doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to entering production. Other versions of the Sixteen powered by V8 engines are apparently in development that should be more suitable for road use. One model will allegedly have 2,000 hp while a more hardcore version produces 3,000 hp, but we haven’t seen any evidence of these car’s existence yet. While the Devel Sixteen isn’t dead, development is now on hold.
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