The Milan Red Could Be the Ugliest Hypercar in History

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

We know you like to dog on supercars, and we’re right there with you. They’re extravagant toys for people you’re unlikely to encounter unless you were born into high society or made some exceptionally wise financial decisions. And that’s always lurking in the background whenever we discuss them. We drool over the specs as we gripe about their existence — riding the line between envy and disdain.

However, we’re still glad they’re here. Extreme performance machines show us what’s available at the outer limits of engineering and income. It’s also a great time to be the kind of person who loves mind-bending performance but hates supercars, as they’re becoming truly hideous.

Austria’s new Milan Red is an prime example of this phenomenon. With wealth inequality through the roof, there are more ludicrously priced vehicles with more power than you could ever tap into plying public streets than ever before. Unfortunately, styling has not kept up with engineering. While Pagani and McLaren still make a decent-looking hypercar, the Red makes the Gumpert Apollo look beautiful by comparison. In fact, the Toyota Prius is probably better looking than this $2 million monstrosity. But the Prius doesn’t make 1,325 horsepower.

Let’s get the iffy looks out of the way before we start talking about those stratospheric specs, though.

It’s definitely better looking than the much slower and similarly animal-inspired Mitsuoka Orochi, but the Milan is not easy on the eyes. The styling is supposed to be styled after a bird of prey, specifically a falcon. Learning that was a bit of a eureka moment, as it does look incredibly avian when you really take pause. But saying something “looks like a bird” isn’t always the highest compliment. The car also doesn’t look finished. Those headlamps can’t possibly be legal, can they?

The falcon theme continues on the inside. Rather than traditional driving modes, Milan Automotive has given the Red settings like “Glide, Hunt and Attack.” The brand also boasts of a feature that provides a visual representation of the the driver’s heartbeat. However, the company did not include any images or explanation indicating what that might entail.

At just 2,866 pounds, the carbon fiber-intensive Red has a one-to-one power-to-weight ratio (in kilograms), giving the attack mode some real credibility. That’s just about as good as it gets in the segment, but what does that look like in terms of acceleration?

Very much like the Koenigseggg Agera One:1. Milan Automotive claims the Red will shoot to 62 mph in just 2.47 seconds; 0-124 mph takes 5.46 seconds, and 0-184 mph is supposedly doable in 9.9 seconds. On a medium-length run, that’s actually faster than the Bugatti Chiron by a wide margin. But the Red is said to top out around 250 mph, allowing the Koenigseggg or a Bugatti to walk away.

The frequency at which these vehicles would face off against each other in situations that call for speeds over 200 mph seems rather limited.

Power comes via a 6.2-liter V8 with four turbochargers. It’s good for 1,325 hp and 1,033 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels, making use of a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. God help anyone who tries to use it all outside of a racetrack, though.

“Nowadays you can drive an artistic car, a high-tech-monster, a throne on four wheels — or a car, that only serves one purpose: stealing everyone the show. And this is where we come into play,” explained Milan Automotive’s incredibly named CEO, Markus Fux.

Red production will be limited to just 99 examples — not that you’ll care, since it also costs $2.3 million. But Milan says 18 are already spoken for, which is incredible. As attention-grabbing as these types of vehicles are, they don’t sell out quite as quickly as you might think. It took Bugatti roughly a decade to sell all of the 450 planned Veyrons, and Chiron orders are still only at half capacity.

[Images: Milan Automotive]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • RHD RHD on Aug 02, 2018

    Somehow they forgot about front turn signals and side marker lights, but remembered to include a modern nod to the Mr. Fusion on the rear deck.

  • NeilM NeilM on Aug 06, 2018

    If only they'd named it after the CEO and included a capacitor.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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