England has made its share of flashy cars with racy looks, such as the Jaguar E-Type and XJ220, and the Aston Martin DBS and Vanquish. It’s also produced the Arrinera Hussarya GT. Even though it was designed in Poland, UK workers assemble it.
The Hussarya GT looks especially racy because it is a race car, built to FIA GT specifications. Under the carbon fiber and kevlar body are a stainless-steel spaceframe and rollcage. Power comes from an LS3 V8 from General Motors, which can make as little as 420 horsepower or as much as 650. That’s hooked to a Hewland racing transmission. According to Arrinera, “The Arrinera Hussarya GT race car will be followed in the fourth quarter of 2017 by a road-legal trackday version and later by the roadgoing Arrinera Hussarya 33 which now finds itself under development.”
Arrinera recently took the Hussarya GT on a tour of its style homeland, from the Odra river to the Philharmonic in Szczecin (voted the most beautiful building in Europe last year) to adoring crowds in the Old Town Square of Wroclaw to Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square, which is now a parade ground that surrounds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
For an upstart effort in a field with numerous competitors, such as the Lamborghini Huracan which it resembles in ways, the Arrinera Hussarya GT looks surprisingly well put together. It lacks the kit-car look other boutique brands in years past seemed to churn out. Let’s hope Arrinera is able to actually manufacturer road-legal versions of the Hussarya when the time comes. It would be interesting to see how they would stack up against other exotics, especially those from England.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
