The last we heard of America’s Revenge Designs and its Verde ‘HP2ge’ hybrid supercarwas at the Detroit Auto Show back in January and since then things have been very quiet on all fronts regarding the up-and-coming supercar start-up. As you may recall, Revenge Designs is a tuner of GM products turned niche automaker and the company’s latest product is to be the Verde supercar, which is scheduled to go on sale later this year priced from around $190,000.
While the regular versions will come powered by a forced-induction V-8 engine--customers can choose from a 605 horsepower supercharged Ford V-8 or the 638 horsepower LS9 engine from the Corvette ZR-1--the HP2ge hybrid model was to get an unspecified powerplant delivering 400 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque along with a fuel economy of 110 mpg.
Lo and behold, the company is reportedly embroiled in some patent trouble over its hybrid powerplant and has since decided to drop plans for it--that is if there were ever any real plans to begin with.
As for the regular versions, the latest iteration of their design is expected to be revealed at this year’s SEMA event in Las Vegas so stay tuned for an update.
If you’re still wondering why someone would want to pay almost 200 grand for the Verde, when a slightly used Lamborghini Gallardo could be bought instead, Revenge Designs CEO Peter Collorafi has previous stated: "That Gallardo's clutch will run $16,800 to repair. Ours will be done with domestic vendors and labor and run $3,200. That's a niche we want to fill."
