"It's not a kit car" will be an oft-repeated phrase for the new owner of this Kodiak F1. Billed as a 1 of 1 car, though the seller mentions another prototype with Mercedes power, this German daydream of an '80s super coupe has been bid up to $48,000 so far. The composite body covers a tubular frame in the same fashion as airplanes are built, apparently, and power comes from a Corvette small block. The Kodiak F1 made its debut at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show, the pet project of Mladen Mitrovic. Mitrovic's company, Speed and Sport, manufactured convertible roofs and other parts, and the chief wanted to fulfill his sports car dreams.
The mid-engined two seater was planned with a standard blueprinted 350 carrying aluminum Brodix heads and a quartet of Webers or Bosch fuel injection for roughly 320-340 horsepower. Optional powerplants were 5.0 liter Mercedes V8s, one stock, one breathed-upon by then-independent AMG to the tune of 380hp. This car would have been just the thing to make coked-up Countach and Testarossa drivers feel like commoners in Chevettes. We're not sure why the Kodiak never made it much past pie-in-the-sky spec sheets and a pair of prototypes. On paper, it sounds like it would be a better performer than the underwhelming DeLorean turned out to be, though cost was likely a big factor, ringing up a bill of $117,000 or so in 1986. Get your bids in now, and you may be the lucky one cracking your temple on those gullwings every time you get in.
|