Ciaran Nunan - Cars in Action

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Today, 21 August 2008

» Pessimism in SA is good...

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» Olympic fashion shocker

Yesterday, 20 August 2008

» Violence erupts at schools

» Disturbing image of sword killer

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» Olympic fashion shocker

When this car stops moving it pulls a crowd. Just like one of its siblings did last year at Le Mans in the Motor Racing Legends Historic Races Paddock where Sir Stirling Moss was on hand to give the replica racer a burn around the famous circuit — before it featured as the pace car for the 2006 feature races for pre and post war Le Mans cars.

Unfortunately I wasn’t there to witness any of this, but apparently CAV’s baby was a crowd pleaser from the moment it stepped off the plane in France to the moment it boarded again to come home. Yes, home for this beauty is right here in sunny South Africa, where John Spence and his buddies at Auto Futura in Cape Town build and distribute their very own replica of Ford’s Iconic GT40 which took first, second and third positions at the 1966 24 hour endurance race.

I’m not going to waste any more time with a history lesson on the GT40. Most of us already know the facts. This article is strictly going to be dedicated to the reproduction of the legend, which is in this case, built right here in our own backyard.

Like I said at the beginning of this story, the CAV GT pulls a crowd. Lucky for us it could be just as easily spotted filling up at BP on the side of William Nicol, as it was on track in the sixties. When we arrived for our photo shoot of this tasty example on a typical Wednesday afternoon at Zwartkops raceway in Pretoria, it had already drawn a herd of onlookers despite being parked at the far end of the pit complex. The opposite end from where the normal show offs and their twin turbo, big winged Porsches and playboys usually hang out. That has to say something.

Buying a CAV GT is a lot like ordering a pizza. The biggest differences being a delivery time of on average five weeks, rather than 45 minutes, and of course the price. But once you’ve decided that you want to feast on this car, the extra toppings, or options list is quite extensive.

First decide your base. Do you want a standard body, or do you want to embellish it with wide rear fender flares? Single or twin nostrils are available. Gurney bubbles and MK II periscope type snorkels may also sound appetising to you. And yes, this replica is still 40 inches high. Just like the real thing.

Now choose your weapon. The CAV GT is designed to accept a Ford V8 small block 289 or 302. A 351 can also be used. CAV recommends a 347-stroker unit thumping out around 300kW. But if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can slot in anything up to fire breathing Nascar spec fuel injected madness. Now we’re talking. The choice is yours. This car is also available without a power plant fitted, making any choice of hair-brained ideas possible.

And putting all that juice down to the tarmac leaves another choice at hand. Do you want to fit the RBT (ZF) original style transmission, or would you rather go more modern with a CAV GT specially adapted Audi six-speed? The RBT unit is recommended for any GT pushing out more than 450 horses, which is about 335kW.

Now we’re getting somewhere, but we still need to stop. CAV offers a standard choice that features forged aluminium four pot Wilwood callipers with 300mm diameter rotors front and rear, or a racing option that adds billet aluminium six pot Wilwood callipers at the front. Serious binders those.

The front suspension is designed with unequal length offset A-frame wishbones with an adjustable anti-roll bar linkage. Adjustments can be made to caster, camber and toe-in, allowing for easy set up from road to race applications. The front uprights are CNC machined from aircraft spec billet aluminium.

At the back we’ve got a rear suspension consisting of independent double trailing links with inverted A-frame wishbones, upper transverse links and an adjustable anti-roll bar linkage coupled to cast aluminium uprights. Sixteen adjustable rose-joints in the rear suspension alone provides unlimited adjustability — just like the real thing from the sixties.

All right. Now we’ve got a rolling, accelerating and stopping body and chassis. What about all the other stuff? It’s impossible for me to mention everything in this limited space. If we were in fact ordering pizzas here, we’d have a Mimmo’s menu the size of a phone book.

But some of the more important things are a pair of fuel tanks, which hold a total of 72 litres and sit in each sill. That’s also true to the original racer. These tanks are FIA approved and foam filled for racing applications. Also available for the track is a roll cage and four or five-point racing harnesses.

Interior ambience comes compliments of a full leather interior, running through the seats, padded dashboard, steering wheel, centre consol, roof lining and doors. The adjustable seats feature the original brass grommet eyelets similar to the real deal too. Interior dimensions will comfortably house occupants up to 6’4”, and a standard air-con system will keep occupants cool. Original style Smiths gauges complete with chrome bezel and Lucas switchgear also help to recreate the experience of the original design.

So, there we have it. One CAV GT GT40 replica. Now comes the fun part. Choosing a colour. Auto Futura will apply one of eight colours to your new ride. But if none of their choices of hue suit your style, they will paint your car any colour or shade you want. Then you get striping options. Twin six- or 4.5-inch stripes, or a single 12-incher if you like. Side stripes too. Of course the notorious Gulf colour scheme is available also. And if you plan on racing your CAV, they will stick racing number gumball roundels on the doors, nose and rear clip for you.

These guys build between 30 and 40 cars per year. Each car takes about 600 man-hours to complete. So if you phone your order through and your car doesn’t arrive at your doorstep in 45 minutes, don’t expect it to be free. In fact, depending on specification it will cost you somewhere between R633 000 and R900 000.

So what is it like driving one of these locally built beauties? Any V8 is going to sound good, but stick one that revs to 7000rpm behind your head and it just gets better. A blip on the throttle and the mid-mounted Ford motor barks like a scrap yard dog. The clutch is heavy and the directness of the cable-operated gear selector reminds you that you are in a track-bred machine. Releasing the clutch gently, because if you drop it the CAV will instantly light up the rear wheels, gets the show on the road.

This particular car has been fitted with a 408 cubic inch lump built by US Prostock guru Steve Schmidt and is maintained and prepared locally by former Formula GTi champ Johan Smith. The fully balanced four-bolt main bearing engine features worked Edelbrock heads and punches out 762Nm of torque and 418kW so acceleration, which sees a the 100km/h mark come up in under 4.5 seconds, is brutal, if not a little slippery.

It’s crazy; no matter what speed you are doing, a stab of the loud pedal plants you firmly to the seat. Braking is good and this car, featuring the four pot Wilwood callipers, delivers plenty of feel to stop the monster. Plans are afoot to fit the six potters for more track use. That said, and like any car capable of this mind-blowing performance, you need to treat the projectile with care — otherwise it will bite you.

With a low centre of gravity the car feels glued to the road, but that can be deceiving as to much right foot can brake the grip easily. Suspension set-up on a CAV is almost infinite. When we initially saw this car on track it was a handful, under-steering and then over-steering, the front camber looked seriously positive and the rumbling V8 was useless because you couldn’t get the power down. A bit of time in the workshop and some attention to the suspension settings, spring rates, bump and rebound have transformed the car. Not only does it visually squat, but also the front end has become a constant and the rear is now predictable. Turning into a corner with confidence, you can hold the line and then power out of twisty bits.

It is not an everyday car. It’s brutal — but at the same time stealthy, peaceful and controlled, brilliant.