Styling is a matter of taste and many people prefer the classic look of cars back in the 1950s or 1960s and these same people also feel that cars today are not designed like they are used to. The picture you see above is not something from the 1950s or 1960s. It is in fact, a new car designed by the Huet Brothers from the Netherlands.

You may ask; who are the Huet Brothers? They are a Dutch company who specialises in classic car driving tours in Europe. In 2003, the idea of a simple and affordable Barchetta styled sports car was conceived and it resulted in the HB Special (based on a Triumph TR6). In order to finance the project, they introduced a limited line of exclusive watches.

Fast forward to today, the company has just released images of their next car project which is named the HB Coupe. Although the retro-looking car is still in the developmental stage, the company promises to offer the comforts and reliability of a modern car and with a classic styling. Plus, this time round, their new car project will have a fixed rooftop.

The car weighs around 1100kg, all thanks to the full carbon fibre monocoque design. It will come in two engine options. The first one is a 3.0 litre six cylinder petrol engine that generates around 306bhp with a torque of 400Nm. It is not known from where the engine will come from but it is rumoured to be a BMW engine. The other engine is a 2.0 litre four cylinder diesel engine which produces around 204bhp. Torque figures and origin of the diesel engine is unknown at this time.

Huet Brothers HB Special

The petrol engine will have a 0-100km/h timing of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h and the diesel engine does the century sprint in 5.6 seconds. The engine will power the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. There is also a seven-speed dual clutch transmission option for the petrol engine and a six-speed fully automatic transmission for the diesel engine.

The Huet Brothers are also planning on two more versions of the HB coupe. One is a performance orientated version and the other is a racing version. The company intends to finance the HB Coupe project with a line of watches (the same way they did with the HB Special) and they are available through their website. Pricing for the car is not out yet and the company promises more details in the near future.

Huet Brothers website

Photo credit: illustrations by Marco van Overbeeke via www.hbcoupe.com