The 5,000hp hypercar that never ended up existing despite so much promise
Published on Oct 06, 2025 at 6:16 AM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Oct 03, 2025 at 2:16 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The car world thrives on outrageous promises, and nothing grabbed attention like the Devel Sixteen hypercar.
Back in 2013, the Dubai brand claimed its hypercar would pack 5,000hp – triple that of a Bugatti.
It looked like a fighter jet for the road, with a 300mph top speed to match.
More than a decade later, the legend survives, but the car itself never showed up.
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What happened to the 5,000-hp Devel Sixteen?
When the Devel Sixteen first broke cover in 2013, it looked too outrageous to be real.
The Dubai startup promised a 12.3-liter, quad-turbo V16 producing 5,000hp – numbers that made Bugatti’s 1,500hp Chiron seem ordinary.
They even talked about a 348mph top speed and acceleration quick enough to shame Formula 1.
Many dismissed it as a stunt, until Devel shipped the giant engine to Steve Morris Engines in Michigan.
There, it was mounted on testing equipment and pushed to full throttle, hitting just over 5,000hp, complete with fire spitting from the exhausts.
Suddenly, part of the impossible looked possible.
But building an engine is one thing, building a car around it is another.
A V16 of that size is physically enormous, and once you add four turbos and all the cooling hardware, it becomes nearly impossible to package.
Devel showed off prototypes at Dubai motor shows, but under the skin, some carried off-the-shelf Corvette V8s with around 500 horsepower.
That gap between the promise and the reality grew wider as the years went on.
More than a decade later, no customer has ever driven a 5,000hp Sixteen.
The brand still teases models online and wheels concepts onto show stands, but the hypercar remains stuck in that strange space between myth and reality – more dream than deliverable.
Supercar Blondie drives the legend
The Sixteen may never have made it to customers, but it did make it to the road.
Handed the keys to the prototype, she brought the Sixteen to life beyond the motor show stand.
At the time, Devel was promoting three versions of the car: a 2,000hp V8, a 3,000hp V16, and the range-topping 5,000hp quad-turbo V16.
Prices were set to start around $1.6 million, with just seven cars planned in total.
The Devel Sixteen may not rule the roads, but it still rules the imagination – a 5,000hp promise that refuses to fade.
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Molly Davidson is a Junior Content Writer at Supercar Blondie. Based in Melbourne, she holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from Swinburne University and a Master’s of Writing and Publishing from RMIT. Molly has contributed to a range of magazines and journals, developing a strong interest in lifestyle and car news content. When she’s not writing, she’s spending quality time with her rescue English staffy, Boof.
