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Totem Automobili to make UK debut at Salon Privé

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Published
08/11/2023 by

Totem Automobili will be making its UK debut at this month’s Salon Privé to showcase its extraordinary creations to an exclusive audience.

Inspired by the classic Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, the new Totem GT presents “a new aesthetic and technological concept of Gran Turismo” at the Blenheim event, which opens on August 30.

Beautifully finished in carbon fibre, the Totem GT is an evocative, modern interpretation of the original car. It is larger and more muscular, with smooth, precise lines and a powerful stance. Totem Automobili spent several years crafting and perfecting the design.

Visitors to Salon Privé will also be able to inspect the hand-built interior of the Totem GT, which expertly blends classic design with contemporary digital displays and details. Custom features include seats based on original 1750 Giulia GT buckets, which are individually moulded to each customer, and pedals that are custom-built and aligned to the customer’s shoe size.

An innovative new specialist Italian company, Totem Automobili was founded by trained automotive designer Riccardo Quaggio. Following a professional career at Honda and Alfa Romeo, Riccardo established Totem Automobili in 2018 with the aim of creating the car he dreamt of as a child.

The company has established a high-end manufacturing strategy, working with expert specialists and professionals – mainly Italians – and using state-of-the-art engineering and techniques to transform classic Italian vehicles into innovative, evocative and thoroughly desirable reimagined ones.

Totem Automobili’s Gran Turismo creations are borne from an original Alfa Giulia GT Junior 1300/1600, built between 1970 and 1975. Each original car is fully disassembled and stripped, with only the bulkhead remaining. The Totem carbon fibre monocoque is married to it, blending originality with modernity.

The super-stiff shell complies with latest EU and US safety standards and regulations and is paired with front and rear double wishbone suspension made from billet aluminium. Both axles are then topped with high-resistance frames welded with CNC machined steel blocks.

There are two versions. The Totem GT Super has an all-new 2.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine – the most compact and lightweight such powerplant ever. A dry-sump design with a unique two-stage supercharger, it offers 600hp in Stage 1 guise, or a thrilling 750hp in Stage 2 form.

The Totem GT Electric is the zero-emissions alternative, producing more than 500hp for 0-62mph acceleration in just 2.9 seconds. It has an 81kWh battery, allowing a range of at least 295 miles, and offers the excitement of launch control and exciting ‘drift engine braking’ that uses the regenerative braking to initiate a drift.

The Totem GT Electric also feels and sounds authentic. This is aided by a comprehensive external sound system comprising 13 handmade speakers, capable of delivering up to 125db. Using techniques normally seen in gaming, everything is customisable – type of engine, sound, torque delivery, power band, number of gears, gear ratios, even the rev limiter. Totem Automobili promises “the same mechanical bond of a conventional sports car”.

“With the Totem GT, we keep the design, we keep the aesthetic of the original, but in the end, it’s a new car,” said Riccardo Quaggio. “The whole project is built around relentless research processes of engineering solutions, that made it possible to overcome the mechanics and structures of the original GT, establishing new standards never achieved before.”

“I am delighted to present Totem Automobili in the UK for the first time at Salon Privé,” said show co-founder and director David Bagley. “We have a long history of presenting specialist and bespoke brands such as Totem, many of which have gone on to enjoy great success in the specialist car sector. I have no doubt the UK launch of Totem Automobili at Salon Privé is the start of many great things for this exciting new Italian brand.”

Salon Privé Week 2023

30 August – Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva
31 August – Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva
1 September – Salon Privé Ladies’ Day presented by Boodles
2 September – Salon Privé Supercar Saturday & Lockton Club Trophy
Tickets can be purchased via the website: www.salonpriveconcours.com

Charity Partner

Salon Privé is proud to once again have Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity as its charity partner. The organisation provides emotional and practical support to families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness, and thanks to the generation donations of guests and Concours entrants, the event has so far raised in excess of £1.1 million for these great causes.

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