Rare Cars: Bourbon Nicolas Adonis
One of the world's rarest cars, the Bourbon Nicholas Adonis, is truly an amazing one-of-a-kind original masterpiece. It's namesake and creator Nicholas Adonis was a young car designer from Genlis. Between the ages of 18 and 23, he put in 6,000 hours of patient labor in the family garage during his lunch hours, evenings, weekends and holidays to fit together his dream car. He collaborated with various acquaintances on each part of the car -Piscine Provence Polyester in Pouilly-en-Auxois for the composite fibre, Lionel Garrault in Genlis for the leatherwork and Mecanique generale outillage in Varanges for the machining – learning bits and pieces about car manufacturing along the way. Working in various companies and corporations Bourbon gained additional experience and knowledge on composite fibers, leather goods and working materials Eventually, working on the Bourbon Nicholas Adonis at a insane pace, Nicolas had built the whole car, including the front and rear directional wheels. It was finished in 1993.
A prizewinner at Exposciences in Nevers and in the Youth Challenge run by the Ministry for Youth and Sports, Nicolas had been praised immensely by the automobile journals for his creation. Years later he recalls his finest memory as being the welcome he received in Paris at the Racing and Special Car Exhibition. There was not only an enthusiastic scramble as the car came off the trailer, but numerous congratulations offered by company directors and proposals from constructors. Auto shows displayed the Bourbon Nicholas Adonis for the first time in 1992, highlighting its creation from the ground up. It's kooky and stylish design has the caught the attention of many car aficionado's around the world. Though at the same time, it has been criticized by many for its offbeat style. Either way, it remains a rare care legendary in it's status.
Bourbon designed and built the Bourbon with a modern composite basalt body, air suspension, and inverted mirror headlights. The interior is made up of suede, leather and plastics. Thoroughly technologically advanced, the Bourbon Nicholas Adonis is equipped with a V8 engine that puts out 420 horsepower and drives in cooperation with a five automatic transmission rear wheel. This double coupe running on prototype tires has the ability to disperse up to 100 km / h in just 3.3 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 330 km / h. It's amazing to think such a powerful machine was built from the ground up.
Despite the enthusiastic response of the press and the automotive industry the car was never mass-produced. The Bourbon Nicholas Adonis was an original masterpiece, and since it was never mass-produced, there is only one – making it one of the world's rarest cars.
