Entop Hada 9: Afghanistan's Taliban-approved supercar revealed in final form

Forget Maranello, Zuffenhausen or Woking, the latest supercar to break cover has been designed and engineered in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Hada 9 is the brainchild of 32-year old Muhammad Raza Ahmadi, CEO of Entop, which has been working over the last five years with the Afghanistan Technical Vocational Institute (ATVI) to develop the car.

Featuring a full tube-frame chassis, pushrod suspension and composite body, the dramatic mid-engine machine is currently powered by a 1.8-litre (2ZR-FE) Toyota petrol four-cylinder engine mounted transversely behind the cockpit.

Producing a modest 103kW at 6000rpm and 173Nm at 4400rpm, the car's chassis is designed to leave room for the addition of electric hybrid support or a fully-electric powertrain in the future.

And there’s an Australian connection! Mr Ahmadi affectionately refers to the car as the ‘Black Swan’ because he sees the Hada 9’s arrival as surprising as the first Europeans sighting black swans on what is now Perth’s Swan River in the late 1600s.

“Swans were white, but when the continent of Australia was discovered (by Europeans), people witnessed the opposite,” he said.

“This also applies to Afghanistan. Foreigners believe that all people in Afghanistan are poor and need humanitarian aid to survive.

“In such a situation, the invention of this car can be seen as if a black swan has popped up from among the white swans.”

There are no specific plans to market the car in Afghanistan or elsewhere. At this stage, the Hada 9 is supported by Afghanistan’s Taliban administration as a signifier of the country’s manufacturing capacity.

“This car will be an ambassador and will drive across Afghanistan and convey the value of knowledge to the people,” Mr Ahmadi said.

Critics have suggested the Afghan government should focus on social and cultural policy reform rather than support a car that will struggle to even run on the country’s notoriously punishing roads.