We’re treated to an extensive look at the new Giamarro Katla, a wildly impressive Italian hypercar featuring a quad-turbocharged V-12 engine.
At the Giamaro Automobili research and development centre, which has an aroma reminiscent of fresh paint, employees in Cavezzo, a small town in the Emilia-Romagna region just thirty minutes away from Modena, Italy, are busy transforming their previous medical supplies plant into readiness for launching the Katla—the inaugural supercar from a new contender challenging traditional Italian automakers. Despite being only one week before the unveiling, they welcomed Motor1 inside to showcase their progress.
What they’re up to is impressive. They’ve created an entirely new super sports car featuring one of the most insane engines around—a twin-turboboosted 7.0-liter V-12 producing 2,128 horsepower and 1,481 pound-feet of torque. This beast comes equipped with a seven-speed stick shift and powers just two wheels.
Giamaro Automobili Katla
At first glance, it appears too good to be true. However, inside Giamaro’s premises, staff members are busy preparing a yellow production-like model for an upcoming unveiling ceremony. Meanwhile, in another section, technicians activate a stripped-down Katla and test-drive it around the car park.
Giamaro comes from the Commendatore clan. The patriarch, Giacomo, oversees a thriving mattress enterprise and is well-known for his extensive collection of automobiles. Additionally, he played a crucial role as one of the initial supporters of Pagani, aiding in the creation of the Zonda model. Meanwhile, his offspring Pierfrancesco shares his passion and manages the company’s daily activities.
“We tried to give our car, our product, a specific identity, and create a deep connection between driver and machine, something that doesn’t exist yet,” Giacomo says through an interpreter.
Pierfrancesco notes that we placed significant emphasis on this aspect since emotion is the core element.
Leading the engineering team is a legendary figure from the supercar world, Loris Bicocchi. He began his journey with Lamborghini back in the 1970s, then moved to the rejuvenated Italian-owned Bugatti in the ’90s. Later, he worked as an independent consultant for prestigious brands like Pagani, Koenigsegg, Dallara, and yet again, Bugatti.
Bicocchi has been involved with designs such as the Countach, Diablo, EB110, Zonda, CCX, Veyron, and Chiron. During my tour of the R&D facility, I found him alongside fellow engineers, getting hands-on experience by preparing the prototype vehicle for testing an available seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
‘We tried to give our car, our product, a specific identity, and create a deep connection between driver and machine, something that doesn’t exist yet.’
Based in Italy’s renowned Motor Valley—home to prestigious brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani, and Ducati—Giamaro has access to an abundance of skilled professionals, including individuals like Bicocchi, along with reliable suppliers who can help bring the vision of these automotive legends to life. The company intends to construct its initial models at their research and development facility located in Cavezzo. Additionally, Giamaro acquired a piece of land in Castlefranco Emilia—a town roughly equidistant from both Modena and Bologna—to establish a bigger, long-term manufacturing plant.
The Katla utilizes a carbon-fiber monocoque structure, which notably does not incorporate a distinct rear subframe for the suspension system. In terms of dimensions, it exceeds the length, height, and width of a C8 Corvette Z06, with Giamaro asserting a mere 3,200-pound curb weight.
The suspension is beautiful, CNC-milled aluminum double wishbones all around and inboard coil springs with adaptive dampers. Giamaro also employs a heave spring, which further helps control vertical body motion. It’s actually an electronically adjustable heave spring, which we’ve never seen before in a road car.
Giamaro Katla Prototype
Giamaro Katla Prototype
Giamaro has several significant collaborators in line. Among them, one of the key partnerships is with Bridgestone, as they work together to create custom Potenza Sport tires sized at 265/35ZR20 for the front and 345/30ZR21 for the back.
Nevertheless, the standout feature remains the engine. Developed alongside engineering company Italtecnica — in which Giamaro has an ownership interest — this powerplant hails from their Turin facility renowned for crafting engines used in various restomod vehicles such as the Kimero EVO37 and Nardone Automotive’s take on the Porsche 928. The engine boasts gear-driven cams along with a compact ‘hot-vee’ configuration featuring four turbines positioned inside the 120-degree angle between cylinder banks. This design enhances responsiveness thanks not only to the hot-vee layout but also because every turbocharger operates exclusively on three out of the twelve cylinders in the V-12 setup.
The Katla will feature three distinct keys, each tied to a varying degree of performance capability. The white key acts as a kind of limited access key, restricting output to somewhere within 394 to 789 horsepower; the black key is designed for regular operation, capping the power at approximately 1,647 horsepower; whereas the red key unleashes the vehicle’s complete potency.
Personalizing colors and trims has become quite popular in supercars and hypercars nowadays, but Giamaro aims to provide an even more extensive degree of customizability. Customers will collaborate with Bicocchi and his team to determine precisely how they want their Katla to perform and look.
Giacomo explains, “Each aspect of the vehicle is entirely customizable and tunable. So if your preference starts off resembling a Ferrari but evolves into capturing the essence of both a Porsche and a Bugatti, we’ve got you covered since every part lets us tweak elements such as suspension, shock absorbers, equilibrium, and steering. Plus, incorporating the [anti-roll bar] gives us nearly limitless options for configuring the ride.”
We aren’t aware of the pricing yet, but Giamaro has secured deposits covering the initial year of manufacturing. They intend to produce 30 vehicles annually and have additional models in development. Of course, they’ve also got an open-top variant of the Katla, along with something even more compelling: the Albor—a raised, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé. Their product roadmap stretches all the way through the 2030s.