KEY POINTS:
For the first and probably only time in my career, I'm pretty happy to be taking a back seat. The Carver One looks like it might be a bit tricky to get the hang of, and the centre of a busy suburb on Auckland's North Shore - where, naturally, all eyes are upon a machine like this - isn't the most appealing place to practise.
The Carver One three-wheeler is a crazy Dutch creation that aims to blend the best of the sports car and motorcycle worlds. It's fully enclosed and has a steering wheel and proper gearlever, so you drive it like a car.
Fast corners are what the Carver likes, because once you are moving the computer-controlled hy- draulics tilt the cabin at up to 45 degrees - depending on how aggressive you are with wheel - to allow you to "lean" into the corner, bike-style.
It's only the cabin that tilts - the platform that contains the rear-mounted 660cc turbo engine and axles stays firmly planted, which is what makes the Carver look so completely loopy.
The one and only Carver at present in Kiwiland belongs to Peter James, who has been appointed the New Zealand distributor for the brand. James knows a bit about high-tech toys - he's the Australasian boss of Superchips, a British company that manufactures and fits modified engine management systems for luxury and sports cars.
Aside from selling to a tiny niche of the weekend-enthusiast market - to the sort of people who might otherwise buy an Ariel Atom or Lotus Elise - he aims to set up a rental programme for the vehicle in the South Island. It will be aimed at well-heeled tourists willing to pay about $800 a day for the use of a Carver.
The Carver One was developed with the help of British motorsport and engineering specialist Prodrive and is hand-built in Germany. It has a Hyundai-designed 660cc turbo engine and five-speed gearbox.
It's not super-quick in a straight line, 0-100km/h takes eight seconds, but there's nothing half as exciting when the road turns twisty. Unless you're talking about a motorcycle, which will likely be slower because there's less rubber on the road.
The monocoque cockpit sits the driver and passenger in a tandem configuration. If you're in the back, you get in first and end up with your legs wrapped around the driver's seat.
James says: "People have said it's similar to travelling on a bike, but really it's the closest thing is a fighter plane."
And I take the point. You are strapped in a tiny dome with a massive glass area.
Every time that you change direction the world outside rotates around your side windows.
Yet another good reason not to take the wheel is that I'm not legally allowed to, since the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) has classified the Carver as a trike.
So you need a full motorcycle licence to drive one - which rules me out - although you don't have to wear a helmet. For that reason the Carver works brilliantly as a city car, since you can drive and park in areas reserved for motorcycle use.
Watch the turning circle, though - at nine metres it's only about the same as a conventional car, but it's a lot wider than you might be expecting from such a compact machine.
It's good clean fun, though. It requires high-octane fuel, but James reckons his Carver averages just over five litres per 100km.
So there are really very few downsides to the Carver as a big boys' toy. Oh, except perhaps the price because it sells from $91,124. "It's aimed at the top end and I make no apologies for that," says James.
The big sticker reflects the Carver's hand-built status and extremely limited production. The factory makes just 150 a year, and despite longer term plans to expand the numbers, it's unlikely it will ever rise above the 500 mark.
So it's more your executive toy. But to wealthy car enthusiasts who lean towards something very exclusive, very special and absurdly entertaining, the Carver could well be irresistible. You can't help but love it, even as a back-seat driver.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
