Showing posts with label hommell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hommell. Show all posts

Sunday, August 19, 2012

An unknown French exotic only you can find in Gran Turismo

Trust us, nobody knows what is a Hommell

What we're looking up here is a car we really don't know what that is. I just really REALLY don't know what in the world is this car is and this is the only car you can find in the world of Gran Turismo. Some say, this is the Hommell Berlinette, a car we really don't know because it was first appeared in GT4 and then always a Gran Turismo-only car that no one ever heard of or tasted it.

Strictly speaking, we really never heard of Hommell but some say, Gran Turismo invented this carmaker but (laughing) you were wrong folks. Hommel was a small French carmaker, founded in the 90's by Michel Hommell, a former racing driver and the owner of Échappement, a French car magazine. Sadly, nobody remembered what are the cars made by Hommell and neither can I even though in the end of 2003, Hommell is gone for good and even though Chinese investors wanted to buy the plans for the Berlinetta Hommell to be produced near Shanghai for the local market in 2005, nobody responded. Sorry folks, this French carmaker, Hommell, is remained unknown to many. Now, why would a carmaker nobody know was there in the first place?

Anyway, the Hommell Berlinette...What is it? Well, for starters, the concept version was showcased at the 1990 Paris Motor Show with much positive feedback, leading it to a 1994 production. Originally, this comes with the 2.0L engine you can normally find in a Peugeot 406 (?) mated with a 6-speed gearbox but later it comes with a more powerful Citroen engine on it. This generates almost 170HP of power, it can go 0-60 in under eight seconds and flat-out it will do about 143-ish miles per hour, although no exact information was found in the history books because the Hommell Berlinetee will always exist in the Gran Turismo universe, unless you want to time travel back to the year this carmaker was founded to learn more. Allons-y!

Because this car weighs just about almost a ton, what I'm looking about the Berlinette's power-to-weight ratio of about...oh dear, almost 180HP/ton. Sure, this car is light, agile, and has a mild cornering feel, but I'm afraid that the Berlinette wasn't quick either even though it comes with a 6-speed close-ratio gearbox.

So then....this unknown French car is not good and it's not a proper alternative to the Lotus Elise...Sorry...