Rare U.S. Street-Legal Gumpert Apollo (w/ startup)

A rare orange 2008 Gumpert Apollo arriving at and leaving Period Correct Pitstop. Built by Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH, founded by Roland Gumpert, former Head of Sport and Special Development at Audi Sport, the Apollo was a street-legal track car developed with the help of the Technical University of Munich and the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. Gumpert claimed that the car, featuring bodywork designed by Marco Vanetta, generates enough downforce to drive upside down in a tunnel at speeds above 190 mph. This example is one of 150 Apollos built between 2005 and 2012 and the only one registered for road use in the U.S. It is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.2-liter Audi V8 engine producing around 700 horsepower mated to a 6-speed sequential manual transmission. The car was delivered in April 2025 to its current owner, whose car collection also includes an Apollo IE (Intensa Emozione) and a Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster.

I've seen a video of a Gumpert Apollo showing up at Cars and Coffee Irvine way back in 2008, and since then I hadn't heard of a single sighting in Southern California until a few months ago when this lucky (and wealthy) owner got his hands on one. Even in an area where seven-figure cars aren't particularly hard to find, this beast is unlike anything else on the road. Its shape is more bug-like than wedge-like, yet it looks absolutely incredible with those wide fenders and huge vents. In its time it was pretty much as close as you could get to driving a Le Mans race car on the road, and it's still an incredible sight nearly two decades later. Even after having seen dozens of the world's wildest and most extreme supercars and hypercars, I'm absolutely blown away at having seen this car out on a public road and I know it's an experience I will never forget.

Would you drive your Gumpert Apollo on the street or save it for the track? Leave a comment on YouTube and let me know!