Click above to view the KTM X-Bow at Wembley in high resolution

One look at the KTM X-Bow should tell you it's about as close to a race car for the road as you're ever likely to see. Add to that the European GT4 Sports Light championship and it pretty much seals the deal. But if that still isn't enough, here comes the news that the 2008 Race of Champions has chosen the super-light Austrian track car to compete in this year's event.

KTM is set to go racing next year with its RC8 R superbike, which is hot off the presses from the EICMA show in Milan. Featuring a V-Twin engine that displaces 1195cc's (that's almost the maximum size allowed for racing against liter-class fours), the liquid cooled engine pumps out 165 horsepower or 180 with the optional race exhaust. We'd expect a significant chunk of torque from the 75-degree twin cylinder as well, which the machine will rely on as it goes up against the stratospheric revvers from Japan.

KTM and its four-wheeled racer, the X-Bow, had an incredibly successful season, dominating the GT4 Sports Light class in its inaugural year. With a serious campaign under its belt, KTM is finally making its "Race" version of the X-Bow available to consumers, and the bike-manufacturer-turned-automaker has big plans for the future.

It was bound to happen, but it hurts nonetheless. The KTM X-Bow is hot off the presses, and it didn't take long for some brand new ones to show up on the 'Ring in Germany with their new owners behind the wheel. That hallowed circuit has led to the demise of more than a few machines, not to mention their drivers, and will inevitably continue to claim casualties as racers test their skills on its winding asphalt. The latest victim is one of the aforementioned German-powered, Austrian-built sportscars from KTM.

Click above for more images of the KTM 990 Supermoto R

As it waits for the upcoming EICMA show this November in Milan for its official release, the KTM 990 Supermoto R has gotten an early debut courtesy of somebody who got their hands on these images. We can clearly see a new color scheme featuring white bodywork with black and orange highlights along with an orange frame and black swingarm. Note the Y-Spoke wheels and Brembo Monoblock brakes, both of which will surely add to the hooligan-machine's fun quotient. A forward-leaning riding position will help keep the front tire down, although it appears it may cut into the available fuel capacity, as well.

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow

Although KTM has been making motorcycles since 1934, it's new to the car business. Evidently, no one told them that if you're going to go back on something you said in the auto business, it's supposed to be really disappointing. Instead, KTM has announced its intention to bring the X-Bow track car to the United States and make it street-legal to boot, despite previously saying that the X-Bow would only be sold in Europe and Asia and that it would be confined to the track.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow.

As suspected, the KTM X-Bow is just the beginning of the bike-cum-automaker's assault on the four-wheeled world. According to CAR, KTM is in the process of creating a "slew" budget oriented vehicles, including a city car and "the world's first frugal and eco-friendly off-roader."

The SUV, codenamed the New Haflinger, will split the difference between KTM's world-renowned bikes and a traditional utility vehicle, with a small footprint, an open- or closed-top body and the ability to handle the rigors of the Paris-Dakar rally (which it plans to compete in with four wheels) while still holding its own on the road.