RUNNING IN THE FAMILY
RML’S 250 Short Wheelbase is an artful reinvention of Ferrari’s immortal berlinetta, built around 550 Maranello underpinnings. Where do we sign?
‘YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THAT!’ IF Michael Mallock, CEO of RML Group, had a pound for every time he’s had to say that to a visiting journalist he’d be retired by now. Knowing what you’ve seen and not seen is a bit of a standing joke when visiting RML’S expansive Northants HQ, yet the self-styled ‘high-performance engineering’ outfit has made a serious business from specialising in white label projects.
However, today is different. No secrets, no multi-year NDA muzzles, and definitely no polite invitations to un-see something. Instead Mallock is giving us exclusive access to RML’S first in-house project and the team responsible for designing, engineering and building it.
From Le Mans prototypes and World Touring Cars to record-breaking EV hypercars, classic continuations and one-off commissions for ultra-wealthy clients, RML is the secret skunkworks of choice for countless highprofile engineering programmes. Some, such as the wild Nissan Juke R, openly leveraged RML’S involvement as a means of adding credibility, while others, such as the Nio EP9 electric hypercar, saw RML sidelined until strict confidentiality agreements had lapsed.
Mallock is sanguine about mostly having to keep schtum – ‘Clients don’t pay us to promote ourselves’ – yet since making his accession to the helm of the family business he has wanted to showcase RML’S extensive and diverse inhouse capabilities.
Given the company’s racing heritage, some kind of track-only machine bearing RML’S name would have been all-too easy. Instead Mallock wanted to make a more meaningful statement; a pure, analogue driver’s car with ample road-accessible performance, plus some creature comforts to make it a genuine GT. That car is the RML Short Wheelbase.
Less of a restomod, more a respectful reinvention, it takes obvious design inspiration from the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT SWB but, mouthwateringly, is powered and underpinned by the best bits of a 550 Maranello. Add a liberal sprinkling of RML’S engineering fairy-dust and you have the makings of an ultra-lowvolume machine executed with the robust and exacting approach of an OEM project.
‘It started with an off-the-cuff discussion with a friend who wanted to create something retro styled but with a bit more usability,’ explains Mallock. ‘We quickly identified the 250 Short Wheelbase as a really good starting point, but the idea changed and evolved until we settled upon using the 550 Maranello as our starting point. Obviously that gives us a Ferrari V12 engine and open-gated manual transmission, but because we retain the 550’s lower structure – albeit significantly re-engineered – it also means we can retain its identity, which makes selling into the US much more straightforward.’
It won’t have escaped your notice that this is the second 250 SWB project to be announced in the last few weeks, with Ferrari restorers GTO Engineering announcing its ‘Squalo’ model in late April with the release of some very pretty renderings. However, where the Squalo appears to be based upon highly evolved hardware related to the original cars – much as Eagle does with its Lightweight, Low Drag and Speedster GT creations – the RML Short Wheelbase takes a different approach.
At the time of our visit, RML is poised to sign-off on the full-size clay and interior buck. Meanwhile, much of the development and testing work on the structure, packaging, engine cooling, HVAC systems, infotainment and legislative compliance is all being done in parallel and also close to being ready to apply to a physical build.
Mallock makes no bones about the fact the RML Short Wheelbase is targeting a sweet spot long since left behind by established supercar manufacturers. This means an emphasis on the emotion of a big, naturally aspirated V12 mated to the engagement of a great manual transmission and the enjoyment of ample yet accessible performance you can explore on the road.
The decision to follow 250 Swb-inspired styling will grate with some, but there’s no question well-heeled enthusiasts are increasingly looking to retrolutionary cars to get their kicks. Given those at this level are likely to own genuine classics, the idea of something that maintains some of their spirit but can be used like a modern car, with all the associated comfort, safety and reliability benefits, has strong appeal.
Having decided to use a Ferrari as a base vehicle, Mallock quickly zeroed-in on his preferred model. ‘I borrowed a 599, an F12, and obviously the 550 and 575. The 599 is a big thing, and the 812 is crazy fast. For me the sweet spot was the 550, largely because they’re all manual, but also because it has that old-school GT vibe and would clearly
‘USING THE 550 GIVES US A FERRARI V12 AND AN OPENGATED MANUAL TRANSMISSION’
respond well to taking a few hundred kilos out of the package [target dry weight is 1485kg]. Engagement is key for all our clients. They want a car they can drive down a B-road and get their heart-rate going without having to do 140 miles an hour.’
Design lead on the project – codenamed P35 – is Jonathan Bowen, who was also responsible for the styling of the Nio EP9. Reinterpreting such a sacred piece of design is a helluva task, but for Bowen it was familiar ground: ‘When I was a student about 20 years ago at Coventry, we had a project called Spiritual Success Project. Basically you picked a car that you liked and were tasked to do a modern version. I picked the 250 SWB. I haven’t really stopped thinking about it, to be honest, so I’ve had 20 years to mull it over! It’s a very simple shape. It has never dated or gone out of fashion. It has a purity that’s inherently right.
‘We wanted to avoid slavishly copying the original. Maintaining its proportions and overall feel was the challenge. There isn’t as big a difference in the relative size of the original 250 and the 550 as you might think. It’s nothing like the increase of, say, an early 911 and a 992. The wheelbase is around 4-5 per cent longer and there’s not much in the height, but the width is 13-14 per cent increased. We’re also working on some neat and discreet aero pieces that will preserve the clean look while controlling high-speed lift.’
To ensure P35 is as nice to be in as it is to look at, the project followed an inside-out approach. ‘We actually started with the occupant and worked outwards from there,’ says Mallock, who at 2m tall handily represents a 98th percentile adult. ‘I tried an original 250 SWB and just didn’t fit in it. With this car I can sit in the buck very comfortably, so it will be much more useable for proper-sized people wanting to go on proper journeys.’
However bang-on the carbonfibre body panels look, it’s the details – especially inside – that can make or break a project of this nature. ‘We’re working with some brilliant suppliers on the jewellery-like aspects of the car,’ says Bowen. ‘Everything has to look and feel fabulous, so we’re going to town with all the instrumentation and switchgear.’
Less sexy are the things non-engineers tend to take for granted, such as door seals and whether or not the door glass drops wholly into the door. Getting this stuff right is vital, but designing and developing bespoke components simply isn’t viable for such an ultra-low-volume project. To this end the team identified an OEM door seal and drop glass that will work perfectly without compromising door handle positioning, the shape of the door or the desired shut-lines.
While the core powertrain is unchanged, a huge amount of work is going into perfecting the sub-systems. Using its OEM experience, RML is rigorously testing the new radiator cooling pack, wiper packs and ventilation systems so that only fine-tuning remains once they’re installed in the first physical car.
The depth and thoroughness of the project is evidenced by a chat with lead engineer Nic Rutherford. ‘Some people would have relied upon the inherent soundness of the 550, stuck a finger in the air and taken a bit of a punt, but that’s not RML and it’s not what the product needs to be. We’re aiming to be as good as an OEM, with our baseline being no worse in any area than the 550.
‘We’ve got Car Zero, which we’ve taken down to absolute nuts and bolts. Everything’s been weighed, everything’s been scanned. And all the information from the mass and condition has been put into the engineering workflow. So, every single part that will get used on the final P35 will have an RML part number, because we will have done some process to it. For instance, we take the lower wishbone, assess it, strip it down to bare metal. All of the bushes get changed, all of the wear parts. Everything from each donor 550 will have had some kind of RML input before it gets put into the P35.’
Considering there will only be a maximum of 30 cars built, the level of effort is massive. Then again, P35 is a significant step for RML and something of a quest for Michael Mallock to build on the company’s reputation and achievements: ‘It’s a mix of professional and personal pride. My grandfather built the first Mallock over 60 years ago and my father has been involved in some amazing race car programmes. Although P35 isn’t going to carry the Mallock name it is a Mallock product. I’ve got a lot to uphold.’
Mallock is confident Car Zero will be running by October, at which point physical testing will commence. Production will begin early next year, with first deliveries scheduled before the end of Q1 2022. We’ll be sure to revisit RML before then, but for now we can savour the prospect of just how good this 1500kg, near-500bhp rear-drive manual V12 machine will be to drive.