2009 Artega GT Rome GA
2009 Artega GT
2009 Artega GT - First Drive Review 
BY RAY HUTTON
Every year, new wannabe Porsches, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis turn up at the world’s motor shows, though most are incomplete and underfunded and never progress beyond the prototype stage.
The Artega is the exception. The GT was developed in secret by a respected auto-industry supplier. It took two years before it was ready, and there was no advance hype. The car emerged fully formed in 2007 at the Geneva show, ready for production.
And in October 2008, production began at a purpose-built plant in Delbrück, Germany. Clearly, there is a depth of planning and commitment here. The company behind the Artega is Paragon AG, an electronics supplier best known for the stopwatch/lap timers fitted to Porsches.
Paragon’s CEO is Klaus Dieter Frers, a prominent historic-car racer with an enviable collection of Porsches. So perhaps it is not surprising that Porsche was the inspiration for his very own sports car. The Artega is a lightweight, two-seat, mid-engined coupe with a transverse-mounted VW/Audi V-6 and DSG six-speed, double-clutch, automated manual transmission. It is short (157.9 inches), wide (74.0 inches), and low (46.5 inches). The closest equivalent is the Porsche Cayman S, although the Artega is more than a foot shorter.
Designed by Henrik Fisker—whose portfolio includes the aluminum-bodied BMW Z8, the Aston Martin V-8 Vantage, and the upcoming Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid—the Artega GT is shapely and well finished. And the company lured Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, the ex–sales supremo at BMW who has since headed Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati, to handle sales and marketing...