The Geneva Salon of 1997 was marked by a fireworks display of new products from Sbarro. The most interesting were Formule Rhin, Grand Angle, and Ionos. The godfather of Formule Rhin was Marco Rinaldi, an exclusive dealer of Ferrari in Alsace, who has his trademark, L'anneau du Rhin. He rightly considered learning to drive a sports car, especially a Ferrari, on European public roads is dangerous. "If you have enough money for a Ferrari, it doesn't mean you can drive it," Rinaldi explains.
The 1320 lb (600 kg) Formula Rhin had a ferocious 200 bhp Peugeot 3.0 liter V-six engine behind the seats, while the B Twin, at under 990 lb (450 kg), had a Lotus Élan style backbone chassis, stressed mid-mounted engine (a 140 bhp 1.6 liter unit from the Citroen Saxo Cup racer), self-ventilating disc brakes and double-wishbone front suspension.
Source: www.is-it-a-lemon.com; "Человек, придумавший колесо" Дмитрий Георгиев, Журнал "5 Колесо" 5-2002 (translated from Russian)
Images: Espera Sbarro
