RE: Gardner Douglas puts a roof on its GD T70
Discussion
rhinochopig said:
Yet another stunning shape spoiled by overly big wheels. Love the shape - I'd have one in a heartbeat - but those wheels just look wrong.
Hardly difficult to fit some smaller wheels and 70 profile tyres. There's no way a car that light can need particularly big brakes. 
A real spyder!
Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
! Imagine doing that wearing an open-faced helmet like they used to do "back in the day". Yep, those guys must've had balls the size of small planets! 
Edmundo2 said:
A real spyder!
Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
Picture from the Gardner Douglas website, tyres are still a bit thin but the Halibrands look much better.
Edmundo2 said:
A real spyder!
Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
+1Would give my right arm for one but as has been said already - gotta have big rubber, polished deep dish rims etc to get the look. Not sure if swapping to more period spec wheels/rubber would change the dynamics of a GD if it was designed to run massive modern rims with elastic band rubber?
That is perfect.
'...boss Andy Burrows assures us that potential customers will be able to have a look at the completed car at some point in May.'
Yep, and I think I know where - 6/7 May.
http://www.gdcars.com/ai1ec_event/national-kit-car...
Yep, and I think I know where - 6/7 May.
http://www.gdcars.com/ai1ec_event/national-kit-car...
the original cars used to run anything from 8-10" or even 12" front rim width, and 15-17" wide rear rims, the GD cars are actually undertired in comparison with some of the original race cars, obviously the original 60s cars had bigger sidewalls thats all. my GD t70 runs 10" fronts with 255-40-17s and 12" rears with 335-30-18s and looks very good on them, it also drives superbly.
brakes- 330mm 4 pot AP all round. the car is 900kg and has 400-700bhp depending on spec, its also a track biased car in the main so brakes are big for a reason. the original cars ran inboard discs and calipers (big) and were 500-700 bhp in 650kg !!!
you can do an open pitlane trackday and not have any brake fade or issues all day even if nailing it hard and demon braking, they are that good.
i love the look of the new version, i dont think i will be changing mine to take the roof etc though as i like the non windscreen look personally as per the original spyders prior to the mk3 enclosed cars, however as usual GD have done a superb engineering design and job as usual, they dont chuck out half arsed work.
hats off to them for freshening up what is one of the best UK kit cars available. mine is below !
brakes- 330mm 4 pot AP all round. the car is 900kg and has 400-700bhp depending on spec, its also a track biased car in the main so brakes are big for a reason. the original cars ran inboard discs and calipers (big) and were 500-700 bhp in 650kg !!!
you can do an open pitlane trackday and not have any brake fade or issues all day even if nailing it hard and demon braking, they are that good.
i love the look of the new version, i dont think i will be changing mine to take the roof etc though as i like the non windscreen look personally as per the original spyders prior to the mk3 enclosed cars, however as usual GD have done a superb engineering design and job as usual, they dont chuck out half arsed work.
hats off to them for freshening up what is one of the best UK kit cars available. mine is below !
Stevie Mojo said:
The car and the driver are equally impressive.
Brilliant.
having driven my own, quite hard, the ring footage shows someone with a lot of skill and huge cahoonies. i couldnt do that with mine, will admit it, i cant drive as well as that yet and i also couldnt afford the off at the ring (he nearly has a couple!)Brilliant.
its a mid 7m30ish lap and regardless of the wobbly speedo (mine does the same) the car is a genuine 180mph car, i went in it when it was in the uk. its a 7 litre tuned ls7 with dry sump and was 690bhp ish and 600ft/lb if i remember when sold on. 0-100 was about 6secs and it was gps clocked at 179 on the main straight at the ring (again from memory).
there is no power steering, no traction control, no abs, its just a massively powerful v8 in a 900kg spaceframe well engineered kit car :-)
Edited by 200Plus Club on Monday 16th April 23:49
200Plus Club said:
the original cars used to run anything from 8-10" or even 12" front rim width, and 15-17" wide rear rims, the GD cars are actually undertired in comparison with some of the original race cars, obviously the original 60s cars had bigger sidewalls thats all. my GD t70 runs 10" fronts with 255-40-17s and 12" rears with 335-30-18s and looks very good on them, it also drives superbly.
brakes- 330mm 4 pot AP all round. the car is 900kg and has 400-700bhp depending on spec, its also a track biased car in the main so brakes are big for a reason. the original cars ran inboard discs and calipers (big) and were 500-700 bhp in 650kg !!!
you can do an open pitlane trackday and not have any brake fade or issues all day even if nailing it hard and demon braking, they are that good.
i love the look of the new version, i dont think i will be changing mine to take the roof etc though as i like the non windscreen look personally as per the original spyders prior to the mk3 enclosed cars, however as usual GD have done a superb engineering design and job as usual, they dont chuck out half arsed work.
hats off to them for freshening up what is one of the best UK kit cars available. mine is below !
Lovely car. Saw one at the Revival last year and have an itch I may just have to scratch. Did you self-build or get it factory made? What's the price for an LS3-engined one, and what are the must-have spec options?brakes- 330mm 4 pot AP all round. the car is 900kg and has 400-700bhp depending on spec, its also a track biased car in the main so brakes are big for a reason. the original cars ran inboard discs and calipers (big) and were 500-700 bhp in 650kg !!!
you can do an open pitlane trackday and not have any brake fade or issues all day even if nailing it hard and demon braking, they are that good.
i love the look of the new version, i dont think i will be changing mine to take the roof etc though as i like the non windscreen look personally as per the original spyders prior to the mk3 enclosed cars, however as usual GD have done a superb engineering design and job as usual, they dont chuck out half arsed work.
hats off to them for freshening up what is one of the best UK kit cars available. mine is below !
johnpeat said:
Looks fantastic and I'm sure it's quick but that speedo looks wonky-as-hell...
300kmh is over 180mph and the scenery doesn't look to be passing quite that fast (it also gets to 300 and stays there despite the engine note still climbing which suggests it's either heading into speeds only measurable in leptons or the speedo is knackered?)
That aside tho, I'd have one anyday and it's actually not THAT pricey if you look at what else you can get for the money (the Porsche it embarrasses, for example).
I think it looks like speedo is on the 'stops' at that stage.300kmh is over 180mph and the scenery doesn't look to be passing quite that fast (it also gets to 300 and stays there despite the engine note still climbing which suggests it's either heading into speeds only measurable in leptons or the speedo is knackered?)
That aside tho, I'd have one anyday and it's actually not THAT pricey if you look at what else you can get for the money (the Porsche it embarrasses, for example).
Phenomenally quick lap, the way it demolishes everything else, by such a margin.
I also love the roof solution. I always wished for just that type of roof for an Elise or Exige so I could actually get out after I had squeezed myself in!! Never found anyone that made one so well done GD.
I also have a T70 Spyder. My car is road legal and running with a removeable windscreen. I drove to the ring last year approx 1100 miles in total without any issues. Track days are also a real hoot with 400+ bhp in a car that is well under 900kg.
As for Andy and all the team at Gardner Douglas I cannot speak highly enough of them all. I have known them since 1994 when I built a GD427 Euro Cobra. That was completed in 1996 and we celebrated with a trip to Le Mans with ten other GD'ers. I ran the Cobra for a further five years of pure fun then sold the car back to Andy. In 2006 I committed to the T70 and the car you see in the picture was completed in 2008 and gives me nothing but a huge grin every time I fire it up for a blast.
As for to new roof. I think I'll have to remove the period decals and paint the car in a not so subtle shade of metallic but I love the car just as it is.
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