Equus unveils Detroit’s newest muscle car — all $250,000 of it

It's easy to be dubious when an unknown car company claims it's built a 640 hp, 21st-century muscle car from scratch out of a small plant in the suburbs of Detroit. Then, despite no evidence of reality bar a fancy video with more Hollywood effects than a James Cameron flick, goes on to announce it's received orders overseas where buyers are willing to spend $250,000 site unseen. I was suspicious.

The Equus Bass770 resembles the American dream; a glorious fastback muscle car evoking memories of the 1960s and '70s, yet with all the modern luxuries and technologies today's wealthy expects. It's perhaps the most beautiful, evocative muscle car in decades. And yet, despite alarm bells ringing louder than Thor, the car pictured above is actually real. I've seen it with my own two eyes.

Better still, at the Detroit Autos Show, I've seen not one, but three Bass770s — one in red; one in white; one in blue.

Equus, based in Rochester Hills, Mich., began working on the Bass770 six years ago. Its aim was to create the ultimate dream car; one that's undeniably unique and unequivocally American. When small builders attempt to realize their lofty ambitions, inevitably it becomes a mismatch of leftovers from various scrap yards. Equus, however, created its frame from scratch out of superformed aluminum lined with carbon-fiber inner panels. This helps the Bass770 tip the scales at just 3,640 lbs. — 480 lbs. lighter than a Camaro ZL1.