01
Origins
KTM built its first car in 2008 exactly as a racing motorcycle maker would: the X-Bow's carbon monocoque — supplied by Dallara, unprecedented at its price — carried Audi's 2-litre TFSI in a body with no roof, no windscreen and no apologies, the driver helmeted behind a wind deflector. Around 240 horsepower in 790 kilograms delivered slick-tyre physics; the marketing said 'ready to race' and the GT4 versions proved it literally, winning classes across European endurance racing for a decade. Road versions grew — the enclosed, jet-canopied GT-XR of 2022 eventually offering genuine weather protection — but the original proposition endured: Austria's answer to the Atom, built with Grand Prix materials and a dirt-bike's contempt for comfort.
KTM X-Bow Interior · Mike Roberts from London, United Kingdom · CC BY-SA 2.0
