You know you want one (or two)

Today is the big unveiling in Miami for Seven Marine's new 557 horsepower outboard engines so the truth can now be told.

There are a lot of firsts here. It's a horizontally-mounted, aluminum 6.2L V8 engine from General Motors with a 1.9L intercooled Supercharger perched atop a ZF transmission (designed specifically for this application) driving a twin pinion gear case.

It's controlled by a fly-by-wire throttle system and a hydraulic power steering system with a joystick control module, a first for outboards.

And it's gorgeous. (Okay, now my bias is really showing)

Seven brought the company I work for on board to do the cowling styling and engineering. It was quite a project. Starting with design research into high performance cars, motorcycles and aircraft, we wanted to create something that not only enhanced the performance of the engine through proper intake and exhaust air management, aerodynamics and cooling, but also looked the part.

Judging by the comments I've seen online already, it appears as though our designers succeeded.

Sorry, for a post that's so self-promotional, but it's not everyday that you get to work on a project that sends shock waves through an entire industry.

My congratulations to the team at Seven Marine for creating a take-no-prisoners product while everyone else seems to be throttling back.