A boutique automaker with one foot in Australia and the other in Malaysia doesn’t usually come to mind when you think of six-figure grand tourers, but Bufori has never played by the book. Known for its eccentric, hand-built sedans that look equal parts Rolls-Royce homage and retro fever dream, the company has spent the past decade brewing something entirely different. The result is the Bufori CS8, a carbon-kevlar-bodied “Ultra High Performance Grand Tourer” with a supercharged American V8 that sounds like it should come with its own noise ordinance violation.

From Concept to Carbon Reality

The CS8’s story stretches back to the BMS R1 race car concept of 2009, which morphed into the CS prototype shown in 2019. The production CS8 doesn’t deviate wildly from those earlier sketches, but the details are sharper, tighter, and ready for the showroom. Slim LED headlights tuck into the wide front fenders, the bumpers now feature gaping intakes, and a spoiler stretches across the rear deck like a tailored crease in an expensive suit.

The car’s footprint isn’t massive by GT standards—wheelbase is 102.7 inches, with an overall length of 179.8 inches—but the entire body is formed from carbon-kevlar composite, a signature Bufori material since the late ’80s. The result: a curb weight of just 3,417 pounds, featherlight compared to similarly priced Bentleys and Ferraris.

Cabin: Leather, Screens, and Recaro Buckets

Open the long door and you’ll find an interior that splits the difference between race car focus and grand tourer indulgence. Electrically adjustable Recaro buckets anchor the cockpit, stitched in leather and set against a surprisingly polished dash. A 13.6-inch infotainment display dominates the center stack, sitting above offbeat climate vents, while a Dodge-sourced steering wheel and analog gauges remind you that Bufori still has one foot in Detroit.

Tech isn’t forgotten: GPS-based smart tagging helps owners locate their car, and driver-assist features are included, though Bufori is clearly betting its buyers would rather listen to the exhaust than lane-keep warnings.

Power: A Buffet of Stellantis Firepower

At its most outrageous, the CS8 houses a supercharged 6.4-liter Hemi V8 that belts out 810 horsepower and a monstrous 717 lb-ft of torque. Of that, 750 hp actually reaches the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic and a limited-slip differential. The payoff: 0–62 mph in a flat three seconds, with an electronically limited top speed of 205 mph.

For buyers not ready to tame Cerberus, Bufori offers a surprisingly broad menu of engines, all sourced from Stellantis. Options range from a naturally aspirated 6.4-liter Hemi (475 hp) to a twin-turbo 3.0-liter Hurricane six (550 hp). In between are a 455-hp supercharged V6 and a 320-hp naturally aspirated variant. This is a rare GT where the badge matters less than which Stellantis crate motor you tick on the order form.

Built By Hand, Not Robots

If the powertrain choices don’t make the CS8 niche enough, the production method seals it. Each car takes over 9,000 man-hours to build, finished by hand in Bufori’s Kuala Lumpur workshop staffed by 150 people. Every CS8 is effectively a one-off, tailored to the buyer’s taste with bespoke paint, exotic interior trim, and hand-stitched upholstery. As a parting gift, each buyer receives a scale model of their exact car—something Ferrari and Aston Martin don’t bother with.

The Company It Keeps

At 2.188 million Malaysian Ringgit (about $517,000), the CS8 competes in rarefied air. That’s Ferrari 12Cilindri, Aston Martin Vanquish, and Bentley Continental GT Hybrid money. But while those cars arrive with pedigrees measured in Formula 1 trophies and Bond cameos, the Bufori CS8 trades on eccentricity, scarcity, and the romance of something handmade in a corner of the world that most supercar buyers would never consider.

It may not be the obvious choice, but then again, Bufori has never been about obvious choices. The CS8 is proof that even in 2025, there’s still room in the GT landscape for the eccentric outsider.

Source: Paultan