Latest news with #Epitome
Ya Biladi
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- Ya Biladi
Laraki, the Moroccan supercar maker behind King Mohammed VI's $2.2 million custom car
Before manufacturing its first electric car, by homegrown automobile company Neo Motors, Morocco had already been making strides in car manufacturing. We're talking supercars—the most expensive ones on the market, the ones owned by royalty and billionaire celebrities. In Casablanca, Moroccan high-performance sports car manufacturer Laraki Automobiles SA has emerged, challenging industry giants with its creations. The business was founded in the late 1990s by Abdeslam Laraki, a Moroccan designer and entrepreneur, with a forward-looking dream: building a Moroccan supercar. With experience in importing cars since the 1970s, the Laraki business started designing luxurious yachts and cars under the leadership of Abdeslam Laraki, the son, who studied automobile design in Switzerland. Morocco-made supercars The first creation from Laraki was the Fulgura, introduced in 2002. This sports car, unveiled as a concept at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, is based on the chassis, frame, and mechanicals of a Lamborghini Diablo, a high-performance V12, rear mid-engined car. The Diablo driveline was swapped for a Mercedes-Benz V8 engine, paired with a cutting-edge sequential six-speed gearbox. This, along with the 600 bhp generated by the supercharged engine, ensures incredibly fast acceleration, according to car specialist websites. The car, crafted entirely from carbon fiber, features an exterior design with sleek and angular lines. Inside, we find a minimalist yet sophisticated dashboard with leather interiors. By 2005, Laraki unveiled its second creation: the Borac, first shown as a concept at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Borac is designed as a grand tourer with a front-engine setup and even has the option of two small rear seats. Unlike the Fulgura, it's not based on an existing design. It's powered by a Mercedes-Benz 6.0 L V12, but without turbocharging like the Fulgura. This gives it an estimated 540 hp, a top speed of 310 km/h (193 mph), and the ability to go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. But the cherry on top was Laraki's Epitome, «a masterpiece on wheels», exclaim car enthusiasts. Unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2013, the car is equipped with a V8 engine from a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, which Laraki enhanced with twin turbochargers. Running on 91-octane gasoline, the car produces 1,200 horsepower. There's also a second fuel tank that can take 110-octane fuel, boosting the power to 1,750 horsepower. The body is made from carbon fiber, and the car weighs 1,270 kilograms. Priced at $2 million, the Epitome made headlines upon its release as the most expensive car on the market. In 2015, the car was purchased by USA-based Moroccan rapper French Montana, he proudly announced on his social media. A custom-made supercar for the King The car was so extra that the first model was further refined and updated. Laraki adopted the C7 Corvette as a base, calling the model Laraki Sahara, a creation that caught the attention of King Mohammed VI himself. It is believed that the Moroccan Sovereign purchased the only two units of the Laraki Sahara hypercar in existence. Each is priced at over $2.2 million, making it the most expensive African car in the world. The Laraki Sahara is just as impressive as the Epitome, «making 1,550 horsepower from its 7.0-liter turbocharged V8 tuned by Dallara», writes Luxury Launches. Its top speed is believed to reach 248 mph. The Sahara, commissioned by King Mohammed VI, was released in his signature color, a vivid sandy, gold shade that resembles the hues of the desert. The color was inspired by the Sahara Desert, hence the name, giving the car a luxurious and distinctive look with an elegant, earthy tone.
The Guardian
28-01-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘Devastated by war': Ukraine's battle scars
Vic Bákin, a self-taught photographer based in Kyiv, has made images of Ukrainian youth for years, focusing on queer communities and subcultures. When war came to Ukraine the tone of the project changed. Some of these subjects would now be enlisted to fight. 'The process of making the palm-sized prints became, for me, a contemplative search for meaning in a wartime reality,' he says. A new book combines photographs from Bákin's archive with recent images made in war-torn areas, all printed in a makeshift darkroom in his apartment. Epitome by Vic Bákin is available from VOID Vic Bákin: 'In the first weeks after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kyiv region, the first place I visited was Horenka, a village to the north-west of Kyiv that was severely damaged by the invasion. Here, as well as in Irpin, Bucha and Moschun, the bloody battle of Kyiv took place. The first person I encountered was a man whose entire house was destroyed by Russian bombs. He lived in a shed with his dog and was raking up the rubble that's left of his house. He showed me his Kiev 60 camera' 'This photograph was shot in Velyka Dymerka, Kyiv region, in June after the withdrawal of Russian troops. It shows one of the thousands of Ukrainian houses destroyed by Russian bombs and one of the only few I used in the Epitome book. Despite shooting rolls and rolls of film of houses devastated by war, my personal goal was to convey the feeling of devastation and loss through other imagery' 'Deteriorated log wall used as a bullet stopper. It is severely damaged at the height of where the heart and the head would be. I made this photograph at an open-air shooting gallery in the middle of Trukhaniv woods. This young man with a trident tattoo appears a few times in the book' 'I brought these flowers back to my home studio from one of my trips to photograph. Being one of the biggest exporters of sunflower oil worldwide, the sunflower is one of the national symbols of Ukraine. The idea of sunflower seeds sprouting out from the pockets of dead enemy bodies became popular after a viral video about a brave civilian woman' 'For some reason, storks are the symbol of family well-being in Ukraine. This felt, for me, like a life-affirming moment; me being stared at by the storks and them being stared back at by me. This image was shot near Bohdanivka in the early summer, after the defeat and withdrawal of Russian troops from the region. At this time people began to return to their homes, some of which were destroyed' 'Pasha and Ruslan, a couple I photographed in 2023 in their temporary home in Kyiv. In 2022 they both fled the war, one from Donetsk region, the other from the city of Kharkiv. I handprinted this piece. After a few days of staying on my table, it took on this cold greyish tone. In the Epitome book this picture was placed alongside images of imploding flames and fires and exploding landscapes' 'Road and a pond as seen from the Kyiv-Lviv train window when I was travelling home. I made this photograph when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Donbas. When the Russian invasion started, all the photo shops closed, so I used the same photo fixer mixture until it was exhausted. Printed in 2022, this was accidentally bruised with the brown spots – and one of the first pictures that visually shaped the project. This landscape was seen by thousands if not millions, as it was one of the busiest routes for people escaping the war' 'Sasha was born and raised in Mariupol, Donetsk region, Ukraine. His mother survived the occupation in Irpin. His father was listed dead for some time due to a mistake, but did survive the horrors of Mariupol. I made this photograph way before, in the summer of 2020. I first printed it in 2023 after I found it in my archive. Since then it has become one of the most recognisable pictures of the project. The unusual crop is informed by my interest in his stare, not his identity. Later, his skull features became the cover for the book' 'I was photographing nature in the Chernihiv region near Desna River in the winter of 2021, before the invasion. Later in 2022, when checking the virtual occupation map, I realised that the birch wood I photographed was roughly on the same territory where Russians were stopped by AFU before being forced to withdraw' 'While strolling through Kyiv and its outskirts, I encountered a big, rotten pile of chairs that stood there like a sculpture. I immediately found an emotional connection to this object: the way this structure combined both chaos and fragile beauty. As soon as I took the first picture it started raining. I made a few quick frames and left the scene' 'Valera is now serving in an undisclosed brigade of the AFU. Recently, in the autumn of 2024, after Epitome was published, I met him in Kyiv, for the first time in five years, to show him his portrait. I never had an ambition of being a photojournalist. I react to the world around me on my own terms.' The film Safe Light: a Portrait of Vic Bákin by Greg Bushell will be screened alongside a print sale in aid of Hospitallers at MKII, London on 22 February 2025
