It might look like a retro-styled kit car, but the IFR Aspid is probably one of the most futuristic machines on the road. It is also one of the fastest. The figures are scarcely believable: 0-62mph takes 2.8sec and hitting 100mph takes just 5.9sec.

Those sorts of numbers put it on a par with the Bugatti Veyron, but unlike that car, which costs about £1m, the Aspid, when it first appeared, was expected to cost a more modest £90,000. But perhaps the most surprising thing about the Aspid is its country of origin: Spain. In fact, with the exception of Fernando Alonso, the former Formula One world champion, it is probably the fastest thing to ever come out of the country.

Unveiled by IFR, a Spanish company, at last summer’s British International Motor Show, it is the brainchild of Ignacio Fernandez, an engineer who has worked for rally giants Prodrive and Mitsubishi designing world rally championship cars. On its looks alone it caused a stir but it was when the car was taken for a test drive last month that it really came into its own.

Fernandez has gathered around him some of the brightest brains in rallying to help build the Aspid, so it was no surprise that IFR chose one of the tortuous roads that make up a stage of the Rally Catalunya, in Spain, to test the car in anger. By the end of my drive the brakes were hot enough to flash fry a steak. But there was no smoke rising from them, and the car felt as if it had barely broken a sweat — despite recording a stage time that would equal that set by the world’s most successful rally driver, Sébastien Loeb.

To put that into full perspective, the Aspid matched the time that Loeb set as a five-time world rally champion with a co-driver, pace notes, team of mechanics and four-wheel-drive hardware behind him.

Much of this devastating performance can be put down to the engine. The 2 litre supercharged Honda unit — pinched from the S2000 roadster — has been tuned to within an inch of its life. It will rev all the way to 9000rpm and sounds like a chainsaw held at full throttle — by the side of your head.

The steering is race-car direct and though the Aspid can be coaxed into a powerslide by a determined driver, the suspension generally allows the car to roll slightly in the bend before fighting back and preventing the tail from sliding.

Yet despite boasting the sort of performance that challenges your faith in the tyres’ grip, the Aspid will still return 51mpg in normal driving conditions. That’s because it’s so light — just three-quarters of a ton.

Fernandez claims that the Aspid is a showcase of cutting-edge thinking, not just a car but a shop window for technology and design ideals that can cross over to the mainstream car world.

It is built around an aluminium chassis that they claim is as stiff as a Formula One car, without the complications of using carbon fibre. Its corner weights, including suspension, wheels and tyres, are 46lb each, again rivalling an F1 machine, and helping generate mind-boggling levels of lateral g-force in corners.

It also comes crammed with clever design touches such as dual-disc front brakes that resist fade. Lighter, cheaper and more reliable than the ceramic systems offered as cripplingly expensive options by Lamborghini and Porsche, these could cross over to other sports cars or even trucks and aircraft.

Inside, the interior is bereft of switches. They, and the bundles of wiring that go with them, are replaced by a single touchscreen in the centre console that controls everything from the ignition to the door latches. IFR reckons it could remove up to two-thirds of the wiring on a VW Passat with this technology — saving weight, cost and eventually fuel.

The headlights react to the steering and help you see better around bends. The carbon fibre doors are so slim they feel like they could snap with a hard slam. That carbon fibre is brewed using a “special recipe”, incidentally, that could make it an affordable reality on tomorrow’s Ford Focus — apparently.

Such detail sends men with beards and workshops weak at the knees, and has already made Fernandez a pin-up for the engineering community.

Then there’s the Aspid's final ace in the hole: comfort. Yes, it looks like a rocket on wheels and drives like a borderline racing car with numberplates. But the suspension creates a magic carpet ride that few everyday cars can boast. And with the help of pods on the side and a decent-sized boot, it has as much luggage space as an Audi R8.

So IFR has created a work of art. But this isn’t exactly the ideal time to be launching a new company and new sports car. For British customers, at least, the cost of the car has ballooned as sterling’s exchange rate with the euro has collapsed: in the summer the ¤135,000 price tag equated to around £90,000; now it’s £132,000 — hardly the bargain it was, especially when you consider that something like an Ariel Atom or Caterham R500 isn’t much slower, yet costs a fraction of that. Neither of those, however, can match the Aspid’s astonishing level of engineering ingenuity, nor its searing cross-country pace.

Either way, Fernandez claims it makes little odds. “If I sell just one car this year, it will be a success,” says the amiable Spaniard. Why? Because the Aspid has done the trick and caught the attention of bigger companies, who have already begun buying IFR’s patented engineering tricks.

Sébastien Loeb should find out what all the fuss is about and take a test drive.

- Despite its performance, the Aspid’s weight and hi-tech design mean it has a claimed fuel economy of 51mpg

- The engine sourced from Honda’s S2000 produces 402bhp, powering the car to 62mph in 2.8sec; 0-100mph takes just 5.9sec

- Inside, the cabin is clad in leather and carbon fibre and gets features such as Bluetooth and wi-fi internet access

- Lightweight aluminium honeycomb chassis and liberal use of carbon fibre mean the Aspid weighs just 1,630lb

Hot Wheels specs

ENGINE1997cc, four cylinders
POWER 402bhp @ 8600rpm
TORQUE 240 lb ft @ 7800rpm
TRANSMISSIONSix-speed manual
FUEL/CO251mpg / n/a
ACCELERATION0-62mph: 2.8sec
TOP SPEED 155mph (limited)
PRICE €135,000 (£132,000)
TAX BAND n/a
VERDICTCatch it if you can, this is a glimpse of the future
RELEASE DATE Summer 2009