Inspirational Zimbabwean Engineer Builds US$1,1 million Powerful Hypercar In UK
Ameerh Naran (34), a UK-based Zimbabwean, has built a US$1.1 million vehicle called The Naran hypercar.
The Naran is a 1048bhp, four-seat, GT3-inspired hyper coupe that will have a limited run with only 49 of them to be built in Germany and buyers will have the chance to customise pretty much everything.
The Naran is called a “hypercar”, a term reserved for the top 1% of the rarefied supercar industry showing its exclusive-class nature. It is powered by a 1048-horsepower, 5-litre, twin-turbo engine.
The front-engined road-legal hypercar has been designed to rival the likes of the McLaren Speedtail and Aston Martin Vulcan.
Prices start at £850 000 (US$1,1 million), but Naran expects most builds will exceed £1m (US$1,3million) due to customizations.
The company’s options list is exhaustive, stretching to bespoke paint finishes, a choice of exterior trim and a broad range of upholstery finishes for the cabin.
If they’ve got the money, buyers can even have personalised engravings on the underside of the engine’s pistons – and Naran Automotive will allow its customers to give their cars their own unique model name, drawing on a convention normally reserved for luxury yachts.
Perfomance Of The Naran Hypercar
The supercar's performance figures will leave your tongue wagging.
The car does 0-100 kms/hr in less than 2.3 seconds and will need just 4.5 seconds to reach 160kms/hr! Its top speed is over 370kms/hr.
Power on the Naran hypercar goes to all four wheels in standard running conditions. However, like the latest BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG E 63 sports saloons, the Naran also comes with a setting which can send 100 per cent of the engine’s power to the rear wheels, for what the company calls a “more challenging driving experience.”
The Naran hypercar is a mad, muscular looking beast, with a shark-like nose, gold-leaf trim, and giant spoilers. The boxy exhaust housings look like a pharaoh’s cat flaps.
Already the Naran hypercar is making waves and the company said they currently have two high profile clients who have already bought the car and are having it customised to their needs.
One client is into horses and wants the interior done using horse hairs. Another is a high profile celebrity that has a tattoo that he wants to be embroidered into the car.
Such is the high levels of customisation that can be done on the Naran hypercar.
Ameerh says his customers come from sport, music, and big business. All of them have already expensively stocked garages. They are the spenders for whom a million pounds on a shiny new toy isn’t such a stretch.
Ameerh Naran History
Ameerh Naran is the grandchild of the late Prag Lalloo Naran who was a Zimbabwean politician and businessman who supported the struggle for majority rule.
Manufacturing his own cars has been a lifelong dream for Ameerh Naran. He said;
“Growing up in Zimbabwe I decided my purpose in life was to build cars and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
“I told my parents at the age of four that’s what I would do.” he explains.
Growing up, Naran turned down offers for internships at Jaguar and BMW.
“I just felt it would take a lifetime to achieve my ambition of starting my own car business,” he recalls.
That dream has culminated in the building of the Naran Hypercar.
Nurtured into business from the age of four when he began trading child-friendly commodities on the playground, Naran grew his business beginnings as a young teenager when his parents introduced him into the various family companies, including Conte Shoes, Zimbabwe’s largest independent shoe manufacturer at the time.
Combining his experience in travel and business, Ameerh entered into the aviation sector at 23 with no aviation industry experience and gained sole representation for the Africa and Asia regions for Blue Star Jets, the world’s largest private jet brokerage at the time, where he harvested his knowledge, later leading to the founding of Vimana Private Jets.
Vimana Private Jets is now recognised as one of the industry’s leading private jet services, with access to over 5,000 aircraft worldwide and a repeated annual growth of more than 250% since inception.
Ameerh studied Product & Automotive Design at the University of Sussex and trained at Silverstone Motorsport Academy. In 2017, Ameerh Naran founded Hypercar manufacturer, Naran Automotive.
Ameerh Naran is one of a number of Zimbabweans making waves in UK. Just last week an 18-year old ZImbabwean won a top singing competition in Britain.
Another Zimbabwean, William Sachiti, is making driverless cars in the UK as well.