jiotto

The Jiotto Caspita is a prototype mid-engine sports car designed and manufactured by Dome in 1989. The car was billed as the “F1 on the Road.” The original design of the car was done by Kunihisa Ito, who was the vice-president and chief designer of Jiotto Design Incorporated.

The first car was powered by a Motori Moderni Flat-twelve engine, a detuned Formula One engine originally built for Subaru, and then in 1990 was stripped and then rebuilt with a Judd GV V10 engine, new twin circular taillights, and more traditionally styled side mirrors as Subaru took the engine to use in its Formula-one car for the 1990 season. Both engines were longitudinally mounted, and powered through a 6-speed gearbox built by Wiesmann. The car first made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in the same year, but the project would die out in 1993 due to the global recession which meant lack of demands for supercars. With the Judd engine, the Caspita is capable of 577 horsepower (430 kW) at 10,750 rpm and 283 ft·lbf (384 N·m) of torque at 10,500 rpm. This, along with a curb weightof 2734 lb (1240 kg), gives the Caspita a 0-60 mph acceleration time of approximately 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 199 miles per hour (320 km/h).