CASABLANCA, Morocco — In February, King Mohammed VI gave Morocco’s Laraki Sahara hypercar a rare royal seal of approval, quietly buying both examples of the $2.2 million machine built by homegrown marque Laraki Automobiles, according to multiple media reports. The dual purchase, reported by Moroccan outlets Yabiladi and Bladi and echoed by international automotive sites, turns the low-volume coupe into a headline-grabbing symbol of Morocco’s supercar ambitions, Dec. 9, 2025.
Royal endorsement puts Laraki Sahara in a different league.
According to Bladi, the monarch ordered the only two Laraki Sahara units ever built, each priced at about $2.2 million. The site describes the Sahara as a bespoke, gold-finished hypercar that slots into a royal collection packed with rare European exotics.
Technical notes describe the Laraki Sahara as a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive hypercar built on a Chevrolet Corvette C7 chassis and powered by a heavily reworked 7.0-liter twin-turbo V8. The Petersen Automotive Museum’s spotlight on the 2019 Sahara lists 1,550 horsepower, a simulated top speed of 248 mph, and a 0-to-60 mph time under 3.5 seconds, figures that place the Moroccan two-seater among the world’s fastest road cars.
Years in the making: from Epitome concept to Laraki Sahara
Laraki’s path to the Sahara stretches back more than a decade. The company, founded in 1999 by designer Abdeslam Laraki, drew attention with the Fulgura and Borac prototypes before unveiling the Epitome at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. In an early feature, AllCarIndex said the Epitome could deliver up to 1,750 horsepower and carry a sticker price of around $2 million.
That engineering philosophy carried into the Laraki Sahara, which debuted in 2019 as a road-ready evolution of the Epitome’s dramatic lines and twin-tank powertrain. Later coverage, including a 2023 overview in the Times of India, has highlighted how the Sahara’s Corvette-sourced V8, twin turbochargers, and claimed output of up to 1,750 horsepower put it alongside a handful of African-built cars competing with established hypercar brands.
From royal palace to museum vault
While both production Laraki Sahara cars are believed to belong to the king, one example has taken on an ambassadorial role beyond Morocco. A bronze-gold Sahara loaned to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has appeared in the “Hypercars: Allure of the Extreme” exhibition and Vault tours, putting Moroccan design in front of visitors who might otherwise never encounter an African-built supercar.
For Laraki, royal backing and museum exposure are more than bragging rights. Profiles in Moroccan media say the company operates at the fringes of the country’s mass-market auto industry, crafting ultra-low-volume machines that lean on local artisans and international engineering partners. By parking two Laraki Sahara coupes in the royal garage and allowing one to travel to high-profile shows, Mohammed VI signals that this experimental niche deserves time and investment.
In practical terms, the Sahara is unlikely to become a regular sight on Moroccan roads. Follow-up coverage this year said the 1,550-horsepower cars, valued at more than $2.2 million each, are expected to appear mainly in private events or tightly controlled photo shoots. Yet as long as the Laraki Sahara continues to draw cameras in Los Angeles and headlines in Rabat, the project has already achieved something rare in the hypercar world: turning a national vanity project into a rolling statement of cultural and technological confidence.
