300km/h NZ supercar coming your way

An academic at Massey University's Wellington campus, Tony Parker, says he is getting closer to the dream he has worked at since he was five years old - building a 300km/h "supercar" for New Zealand's roads.

His Hulme F1, weighing about 1200kg and with an engine supplying 400 kilowatts, is expected to be capable of top speeds of more than 300km/h.

An associate professor in industrial design at the university's college of design, fine arts and music, Professor Parker is chief designer in a consortium planning to build the car.

"New Zealand has established a reputation for building the best yachts in the world," he says in the university's newsletter, Massey News, published yesterday.

"We also have the technical capability and industrial infrastructure to create a quality, hand-built performance car."

The Hulme F1 draws on the racing legacy of New Zealander Denny Hulme, who won the Formula One World Driver's Championship in 1967.

"We want to create a brand based on the glamorous world of F1 racing and the reputation New Zealanders have earned for building quality products," Prof Parker said.

He expected the consortium - trading under the name Supercars New Zealand Ltd - to build two cars this year, 10 to 20 cars next year and after that 35-50 cars a year. A minimum of 150 cars would be built in total.

He describes his role as conceptualiser and designer. He sketched up a series of supercar designs before settling on the F1 look, complete with air box, sidepods and open wheels.

"We are creating the illusion that you are driving an F1 car on the road."

Construction will be a metal space frame with a GRP (fibreglass) body.

"This is cost-effective for a small number of units, while allowing production to be ramped up as demand increases," Prof Parker says.

His next task will be what he calls human factors.

"This means fitting the car to the driver and passenger, designing the seats, controls and interior."

The car's top will be just 1050mm above the ground, compared with a Toyota Corolla at 1500mm high.

Albany-based technician Peter Skerton has been building a quarter-scale model from Prof Parker's drawings, sculpting it from clay.

Mr Skerton says that even in the age of computer-aided design, clay was still used to model car designs.

"You can work quickly, and it's easy to tweak as the design is adjusted."

The Hulme F1 has been planned over the past two years, and is expected to have a prototype running as early as June.

- NZPA