SEAT Fórmula

The SEAT Fórmula is a rear wheel drive, mid engined roadster concept car developed by SEAT and first aimed at limited production. It was designed at the Volkswagen Group Design Center Europe at Sitges near Barcelona by a team led by Erwin Leo Himmel, with the Lotus Elise designer Julian Thomson taking part, to show the design language of future SEAT models. The name recalls the Spanish Fórmula Nacional race tracks of the 1960s, when SEAT began its involvement in motorsport. The first concept, built by the Turin company Stola, appeared at the 1999 Geneva motor show with a water cooled 2 litre 20 valve turbo four cylinder engine of 240 hp on an aluminium chassis weighing almost 900 kg, with a six speed sequential gearbox derived from SEAT's rally cars. SEAT quoted 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 235 km/h.