Apollo, after years of seemingly hiding from the limelight, has popped its head back above the parapet. At the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the company revealed its first of ten Apollo Evo hypercars scheduled for production, before handing it over to its owner, marking the beginning of a rebirth for the company.
With the Gumpert Apollo rightly assuming legendary status, the company’s IE sort-of-follow-up was launched to great fanfare. But the company vanished from the public eye for years while… things went on in the background, ownership changed hands, and goals were redefined.
We sat down with Marko Konta, Apollo Autombil CPO, to talk about the EVO, and where the company’s going next.
Apollo EVO Hypercar At Goodwood
Photo by: Apollo
A Hypercar Brand Reborn
Earlier this year, the firm let Motor1 loose in the, well, intense, Apollo Intenza Emozione, which turned out to be a rather fine entry to the hypercar annals. It also showed that while Apollo may have been quiet for a spell, the cars it’s capable of making are incredible.
Speed, angles, an aura of ‘special;’ they might not be for everyone thanks to limited build slots and ridiculously high prices, but those who do get their mitts on one are in for a treat. A multimillion-dollar treat.
The unveiling of the first EVO feels like a reset for the company. It was positioned as the pride of place on the ground floor of a sizable Apollo show stand next to the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed Supercar Paddock. When runs flew out and came back in, they’d all pass the Apollo palace, as would the multitude of DJI Osmo-wielding influencers hoping to grab a glimpse of the rarest metal in the world.
It’s a big move for a company that’s been rather quiet for the thick end of a decade.
‘We’re here at Goodwood because we want to let people know that we’re here to deliver, and that we’re serious. On the other hand, we also want to give the fans the chance to really enjoy the car. That’s why our booth is very open. You can walk around the whole car. You don’t have to register to enter.
A very small percentage of people who know our cars will ever be able to buy one, but that’s not the point. The point is that we want to be approachable to everyone, to fans, to enthusiasts, and, of course, our customers. But the majority of people who know us, we want them to enjoy.’
It would, of course, be foolish to make a big splash for the sake of a customer handover and a brace of runs up Goodwood’s famous hill climb, but the team being there is a huge deal for the brand. The ten Apollo EVOs are sold out, and though the company could probably sell another few runs without issue, it will stay small and bespoke. Konta says:
‘We’re not an OEM. That gives us the ability to be quick. But being small doesn’t mean slow. And also, I mean, being quick is one thing, but also being able to offer anything that a customer wants.’
Photo by: Apollo
The factory in Germany is a wonderful spot, but there aren’t acres of space to bolt big ‘ol wings to the back of V12-powered monsters. Also, if you’re dropping millions of dollars on a car, you probably want to know that yours is being built by hand, painstakingly carefully.
There are plenty of details to enjoy on EVO number one. Its exhaust is Apollo’s ‘dragon skin’ 3D-printed titanium tentacle-esque creation that, over time and with some, erm, aggressive heat cycles, will change color and give the car an even more distinctive look.
The car’s paint is incredible, which you’d hope for something that took 1,000 hours to get done. To get the desired effect, the team painted the whole thing blue, then masked off the bits they didn’t want to be white by hand. See the shiny bits in the blue? That’s diamond dust. You don’t get that on a Camry.
You also don’t get quite the level of cutting-edge engineering on a day-to-day car. While, yes, the EVO is related to the IE, it’s not quite the same underneath.
‘We have a 70 to 80 percent completely new car. The chassis has been reengineered. The top is new. The front and rear have been reengineered to the latest standards in terms of safety and rigidity. Same for the suspension geometries.’
The IE was cutting edge nearly a decade ago, exceeding FIA standards for safety. Its sibling, says Konta, is just as ahead of the game, meeting LMDH regulations.
Photo by: Apollo
The Future Of Apollo
With its current lineup sold and in build, Apollo could well find itself in a sticky situation. It needs to build itself back up, and to do that it needs customer interest. You can’t get that without things to talk about like, say, new cars. What does the future of Apollo look like? Well… balanced:
‘Power to weight ratio is still the most important figure, if you ask me. The Gumpert [Apollo] is a very good example of this. Although it’s a 20-year-old car, it still feels very powerful. But at the same time, it feels like a go-kart.
You have this lightness in the steering, and we achieved the same feeling in the Evo. It feels so light, although it isn’t. I mean, it’s not below 1000 kilograms. But what’s more important nowadays isn’t numbers. It’s the sensation, the sound, and the driving experience that it provides.’
Konta was coy on whether the future will be turbocharged or not. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, maybe you’ll be able to ask them to bolt some snails onto the car and have more power. What it does mean, though, is that we probably won’t be seeing a Yangwang U9 Xtreme baiting Apollo any time soon.
Photo by: Apollo
We will, however, see one on the road… legally. Whether or not the IE or the EVO are supposed to come with licence plates probably depends on how chummy you are with the local government/whether you own the country you’re driving them in. But a future car is likely to be homologated for actual road use.
‘Our long-term vision definitely is to offer a product that is allocated for road use. With the racing pedigree that we currently have, and also with the history of having what was the fastest car in the world… The heritage is still there, and our German philosophy and rebellious German engineering is something that we would like to take back to the road.’
The next car is a ways off, sure, and while Konta isn’t keen to spill beans at the moment, as we talked, his eyes darted over to EVO number one below. He’s rightfully proud of the car, and the team that got it to Goodwood, and he wants to drink in as much as he can in Apollo’s own little British bubble before heading home.
For that, you can’t blame him. In fact, he should be commended for it. He loves the company, and by the looks of things, he’ll be watching it grow for years to come.
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