Ant-Kahn may sound like a character from a Marvel flick, but it’s actually the name of a U.K.-based coachbuilder that launched this week.
On one side is Afzal Kahn, a British automotive fashion designer and businessman. Kahn founded Kahn Design, a customizing firm that specializes in enhancing vehicle aesthetics with custom interiors, aerodynamics, and alloys. His vehicles have appeared in Hollywood Blockbusters like Edge of Tomorrow and is known for his axiom, “The road is my catwalk.”
On the other side is Ant Anstead, Managing Director for Evanta Motor Co. Evanta builds bespoke clones of classic British sports cars, so these two minds together will surely create some collaborative genius.
“We are already working on exciting future plans that extend from coach-built special editions to series manufacture of motor vehicles, and you will see a number of models come to fruition in the coming weeks and months” explained Afzal Kahn.
“Together, we are dedicated to continuing and building upon the historical excellence of British vehicle manufacture and the traditions of hand finished coach building are at the heart of the company’s ethos,” continued Anstead.
Ant-Kahn’s first project will be the Land Rover-based Flying Huntsman. The longnose Huntsman features an additional 15 inches of bodywork, and Kahn is calling it “probably the fastest Land Rover on the planet.” It comes with 550-horsepower V8 engine, all-wheel drive, and an electronic six-speed gearbox, so he might be right.
Getting the biggest buzz, however, is the upcoming retro roadster from Ant-Kahn. Unlike Ant-Kahn’s other planned vehicles, the currently unnamed roadster will be not based on a production vehicle; Ant-Kahn plans to build the curvy drop-top from the ground up.
Despite its homegrown conception, the sporty roadster has elements of memorable oldies like the Jaguar D-Type, Aston Martin DBR1, and Ferrari 250 GT in its bodywork, so it will surely hit home with the classics crowd. Only 20 will be made, and power will come from a 450-hp LS3 V8.
Ant-Kahn is also planning a restyled version of the Aston Martin WB12, a tweaked version of the Vanquish, and it’s due later this year.
