KTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattighofen. It started out as a metalworking shop and was named Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. It wasn't until 1953 that KTM began production of motorcycles. With just 20 employees, motorcycles were built at the rate of three per day. In 1955, a businessman Ernst Kronreif became shareholder of the company, on acquiring a sizable portion of the company. It was then renamed Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Trunkenpolz died unexpectedly in 1989. During these early years of motocycle production at KTM, almost all components for the motorcycles were built in-house by KTM.
KTM X-Bow is the first car ever to be produced by the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM (in partnership with Italian car company Dallara). The X-Bow uses a turbocharged Audi TFSI engine that produces 177 kW (237 hp) at 6000 rpm and 310 N·m (228.6 ft·lbf) of torque peaks at a level between 2200 and 4000 rpm. Originally the company planned a production of 500 units a year, but because of high demand the company has increased production to 1000 cars a year and is building a new plant near Graz for it. The car will be priced at £37,189 in the UK, this will put the car in the same price range and in competition with the Ariel Atom.
KTM – Europe’s second largest motorcycle producer – is presenting the prototype of a new lightweight sports car at the coming Geneva Motor Show: the X-Bow. This compact, purist two-seater will have a carbon fibre chassis and a modern four-cylinder FSI turbo engine from Audi. By doing away with the unnecessary encumbrances of a normal sports car, the KTM X-Bow will deliver a driving experience equivalent to motor sports. The first 100 will be on the starting line as an exclusive special
series. An aggressive design and sporty potential: the X-Bow is not merely a milestone in the KTM brand’s more than 50-year history, it’s also a new citation in the small, but elite segment of radical, lightweight sports cars. This exceptional position is the result of the concept: for their first car, KTM employs the finest materials, high-tech and the know-how of respected development partners such as Audi and Dallara. The result is a street-homologated sports car with racing technology, like an avantgarde, carbon fibre monocoque. Thanks to the basic version’s light weight and the 177 kW (240 hp) Audi TFSI engine, the performance values of the KTM X-Bow outstrip those of super-sport cars with more than twice the power: with a deadweight of approx. 700 kilos, the KTM X-Bow accelerates to 100 kph in just 3.9 seconds.
But the X-Bow isn’t just a racing machine, even if it is going to accomplish spectacular performance feats on racing circuits. With its modern technologies and exceptional solutions, it’s much more oriented towards sporty drivers who seek a purist’s driving experience. By foregoing electronic assistants and today’s standard comfort features, the X-Bow offers an unfiltered adventure – aided by its standalone wheels in the style of monoposto racing cars, transparent technology and the car’s reduced concept, i.e. no roof, doors or windscreen. The sports car has only a 70-millimeter, transparent wind deflector. With all these unique features, driving the KTM X-Bow becomes an experience with an immediacy that otherwise can only be felt when riding a motorcycle.
The KTM X-Bow meets the requirements for road service as defined by the new EU guidelines for small series homologation. These guidelines will come into effect in the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain. Switzerland will also be complying with the EU guidelines. For the other states of the European Union, it is to be expected that the KTM X-Bow will be approved for road service in the year 2008 in the course of small series homologation. In all other countries outside the European Union, the KTM X-Bow is classed as a pure racing car for use solely on racetracks. As a basis for this, FIA homologation for the GT4 racing series is planned. Applications may later be filed for approval for road service in countries outside the European Union or are still under scrutiny by the relevant national authorities.
