Andre's driving Impressions

The conversation started something like this.

 

Me:      Hey Craig, I want to build a new car. It needs to be road legal and something that I can race to replace my Lotus 7.

Craig: Ok, I can help you with that. How about a Harper Type 5?

Me:      Mmmm, interesting, can we put a V8 into one?

Craig: Huh? Um, no, won’t fit.

Me:      Oh

Craig: How about a nice two-litre turbo? That can be pretty quick. Just ask Ant.

Me:      I really want a V8, surely it can be made to fit?

Craig: No, too small

Me:      Ok, what about the Type 6 then, that’s going to take a bigger engine?

Craig: It’s just a thought in my head

Me:      ..and?

Craig: Well, it’s just an idea I have

Me:      …and? Ok, if you decide to build a Type 6, I’ll take the first one.

Craig: Let me think about it.

 

Two weeks later I got a call from Craig to say he had warmed to the idea and we should investigate this a bit further. It was showtime!

What followed was nothing short of a miracle. Craig set himself some pretty tight deadlines, not that I was complaining. Car was to be drivable by Christmas! Impressive bearing in mind that is was already October. I set about researching the drivetrain while Craig went hi-tech with his CAD software and started redesigning the Type 5 chassis to take a longitudinal engine.

 

Fast forward to January. The car was actually drivable before Christmas, but quite a bit of tweaking was still required, the main of which was to have the engine mapped. This was ably done my Herman at MACE and on Saturday 8 January we set out on the maiden cruise of the Harper Type 6.

 

The weather was fantastic, howling South Easter aside, as three Harpers set out towards Stellenbosch on the N2. First impressions of the Type 6 where excellent.

 

The car is very civilised and easy to drive at low speed. Although it sports a 5 puck racing clutch, the weight of the car (or rather lack there of) makes pulling off very easy. First gear is a little short and hardly required given all the torque the engine has at low revs. Trundling around in traffic is a no fuss affair with no driveline shunt or bucking bronco antics often associated with lightweight, high power cars.

 

We lead the string of Harpers down the N2 towards Spier checking engine vitals as we went and pulled over at the petrol station for a chat. The car is rock solid at highway speeds and was virtually unaffected by the howling side wind. The quick steering rack fitted to the car makes for very precise handling without it being nervous. Its very comfortable driving down the N2 with an elbow on the side pod and a couple of fingers hooked into the steering wheel. You don’t have to work too hard to drive the car, which is a “good thing”.

 

Once all vitals were checked and confirmed at the stop we set off again out over the N1 and onto some lesser used roads behind Bellville. Here we did a couple of rolling runs in successive gears to get a feel for the torque and acceleration. This was the first time the Type 6 had seen some decent “wellie”. 

 

The acceleration is, how shall we say, startling! Third gear is the most impressive. Planting the right foot from around 40km/h in third results in a little squirm at the rear and ballistic acceleration. The Lexus V8, with it’s 390Nm of torque, is designed to lug an almost two ton car around. So, plugged into a chassis weighing quite a bit less than half that results in furious and relentless pace. The rev limiter intrudes awfully quickly and snatching fourth just produces more of the same. Even a planted foot in fifth gear produces a surge more familiar to superbike riders than car owners. All the while your ears are been treated to a heavenly V8 soundtrack.

 

Impressive as the engine’s power and torque is, what’s possibly even more impressive is the car’s road manners during these antics. Under hard acceleration the car always tracked dead straight and pulled up as if on tracks under hard breaking. There was no lurching or diving just a good solid feeling with excellent feedback through both the wheel and seat. You get the distinct feeling that, while the engine would love to rip your head off and pee down your neck, the chassis has everything under control and is totally unfussed by the raging caged beast in it’s belly.

 

All in all, Craig has created a very evenly balanced car that manages to combine brutal, if slightly terrifying, performance, unique looks and an everyday usability aspect all wrapped up in a package that tends to attract quite a bit of attention regardless of where you happen to be.

 

I drove it again today briefly and it’s intoxicating. You find yourself giggling like a girl every time you just so much as nudge the throttle. I think I’m in love with third gear.