It looks like a prop that’s escaped from the Alien films; the exotic race car specification suggests it’s a one-off vision from the mind of a serial concept-car fantasist. But the new KTM X-Bow sports car is here to stay and will blow your mind in return for £43,329.

The first car from KTM, the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, it’s pronounced “crossbow”. Every bit is made from carbon fibre, a material so light and strong that Formula One cars have used it for 20 years. The downside is that it’s so expensive that carbon cars are phenomenally rare – Ferrari, for instance, doesn’t build one.

Power comes from a 2 litre Audi engine, which may sound faintly disappointing. It doesn’t help that, with the aid of direct fuel injection and turbocharging, it pushes only 240bhp through a six-speed gearbox to the rear wheels.

However, the X-Bow weighs just 1,742lb, which means its power-to-weight ratio is superior to that of a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, so it has the heart of a true maniac: 0-60mph in 3.8sec, 0-100mph in 8.5sec. And unlike the Ferrari, the X-Bow is an entirely analogue car. Traction control, stability control and antilock braking are provided by your right foot alone: get it wrong and there are no electronic saviours waiting to kick in.

It’s also one of the scarier four-wheeled conveyances you can sit in. The shape is intimidating enough, but add in the exposed front suspension and myriad carbon wings, fins and diffusers, all designed to exploit the airflow over, under and around the car, and you know what F1 drivers must experience.

Stand on the carbon fibre footplate, swing a leg over the side – there’s nothing as effeminate as doors or roof or windscreeen – drop into the seat and you get your first surprise. The seat doesn’t move. Instead you pull a handle and the pedals slide up and down the footwell. This sounds mad until you realise that making the car fit you rather than the other way is, in fact, fantastically comfortable.

Helmet on (with the tiny “wind deflector” you’d risk blinding yourself without at least goggles), you fire up the surprisingly quiet engine. The instrument display is in the centre console but the LCD readouts are almost impossible to read at speed. You wonder how you’re going to know when to change gear. The answer arrives after the first burst of insane acceleration, in the form of a red flashing light telling you the rev limit has arrived. You grab another gear and before you have time to do much more than return your hand to the wheel, the light is back on again. And again. And again. The Audi TFSI engine may speak softly, but it carries a big stick.

Even with on-road suspension and tyres, the X-Bow changes direction more like a racing car, flicking fast and flat through curves. It moves, in KTM’s words, “like a bike with four wheels”. And it stops like you’ve hit something.

This is the first car produced by KTM, a 50-year-old name that may be familiar as Europe’s second largest motorcycle constructor – after BMW. It exists because bike sales are falling and KTM needed another string to its bow, no pun intended. Thank heavens an enterprising soul reasoned that building a car would be the answer to the company’s problems. The first 100 units were long ago snapped up, but KTM intends to increase production to 500 a year.

It’s just announced it plans to expand its range with a more powerful model, a windscreen option and a roof. What more luxuries could you ask for? The more powerful version is expected to include a modified version of the same engine, which in Audi’s S hot hatch produces 261bhp.

The cost of the basic X-Bow rises to £45,218 when you add essential equipment (such as adjustable shock absorbers and a limited-slip differential), without which the car could not realise its full potential. These don’t include an as yet unspecified delivery charge.

But how can you put a price on such an astonishing achievement? As first attempts go, it’s simply out of this world.

Vital statistics

ENGINE 1984cc, four cylinders

POWER 240bhp @ 5500rpm

TORQUE 229 lb ft @ 2000rpm

TRANSMISSION Six-speed manual FUEL 37.7mpg (combined) CO2 185g/km

PERFORMANCE 0-60mph: 3.8sec

TOP SPEED 137mph

PRICE £43,329

ROAD TAX BAND E (£170 for 12 months)

VERDICT A masterpiece spoilt by dull engine