Malaysia’s $500K Luxury Coupe Packs 810 HP and a Supercharged Hemi

0-62 MPH In Three Seconds Dead

Malaysia's auto industry isn't well known in the West, although it does boast the duo of Perodua and Proton, mostly making basic vehicles that only appear in small numbers outside their home region (although Proton did own Lotus for a time). Bucking that trend is Bufori, which since the 1980s has made retro-looking creations in the vein of Zimmer or Mitsuoka. Now it's taking a page from Aston Martin.

The Bufori CS8 is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive coupe with a carbon-kevlar body and 810 horsepower at the crank (750 hp at the wheels) and 717 pound-feet of torque, courtesy of a supercharged 6.4-liter Hemi V8 (among other engine options), backed by an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. With a minimum curb weight of 3,417 pounds, Bufori claims the CS8 will do zero to 62 mph in just 3.0 seconds.

Less Impressive At Second Glance

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The rest of the spec sheet looks encouraging as well. Bufori claims an ideal 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, while adaptive suspension and a robust braking system with Brembo six-piston monobloc calipers should ensure plenty of stopping power. And Bufori claims no two cars will be alike thanks to a wide range of paint color and interior-trim options.

The flip side is generic styling and some fairly obvious use of the Stellantis parts bin beyond the Hemi engine. The wheels look like they came straight off a Charger SRT Hellcat, and while Bufori hasn't shown much of the interior, the steering wheel glimpsed in videos of the CS8's reveal also looks like a Dodge item. Nonetheless, Bufori told Malaysian media outlet AutoBuzz that just 10% of the CS8's parts were sourced from Stellantis.

And while the supercharged Hemi is impressive, it won't be standard. Bufori will also offer a naturally aspirated 6.4-liter Hemi making 475 hp (the same as it did in Charger and Challenger Scat Pack models), along with a supercharged 3.6-liter V6 making 455 hp, a naturally aspirated V6 with 320 hp, or a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six making 550 hp. The latter sounds like the Hurricane engine that powers the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack.

Malaysia's Hand-Built Luxury Coupe

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Bufori was founded in Australia in the 1980s before moving to Malaysia in the following decade. It's mostly focused on small roadsters with Morgan-like styling, but has also produced the similarly retro-looking Geneva sedan since 2010. It unveiled the CS8 in 2019, so the start of production has been a long time coming. Customers will have to wait even longer, as each car takes 9,000 person-hours to complete, Bufori owner Gerry Khouri said in an interview with Malaysian website Paul Tan's Automotive News.

That same website reported a starting price of 2.188 million Malaysian Ringgits, or about $518,000 at current exchange rates. So it's either this or an Aston Martin Vanquish, which gets its 824 hp from a more exotic twin-turbo V12 and will probably be easier to acquire, as Bufori hasn't discussed plans to officially import the CS8 to the United States.