It tilts ... what's not to like, other than spilling your drink
Not for shrinking violets, this one. Hailing from the Netherlands, but created with a little help from our own Prodrive (who had previous form with tilting vehicles with its 2005 ‘Naro’ concept), the Carver One is a bizarre but brilliant car-cum-bike-cum-fighter plane crossover.
Like a bike on the inside but a wheel, not bars
It’s moderately brisk, with 0-62mph taking just over eight seconds and a top speed nudging 115mph, but the Carver’s real party trick is its dramatic ability to lean, bike-style, when cornering. Its cabin is controlled independently of the vehicle’s running gear via a hydraulic damper. The quicker the driver turns the wheel, the more extreme the angle of lean. A series of lights on the instrument panel progress from red to green to let you know how far you’re tilted. Maximum lean angle is 45 degrees, which sounds like a challenge if ever there was one.
The Carver stays upright at slow speeds so that you don’t get seasick while parking but above 7mph the hydraulic tilting system becomes active. It can move quickly too, leaning the body automatically at up to 80 degrees per second. There’s also space for a co-pilot under the fighter jet-style canopy, with a passenger seat positioned in tandem behind the driver.
Bike thrills, hopefully not the spills
The rear wheels are driven by a turbocharged four-cylinder 659cc engine generating 69hp whilst a motorcycle wheel takes care of steering at the front.
There aren’t many about – around 200 Carver Ones were made between 2006 and 2009 before the company filed for closure. With a list price approaching £30,000, an expensive (albeit rather wonderful) toy such as the Carver wasn’t able to survive the recession. Seems it holds it value well though, with the example we’ve found for sale here advertised at £32,995.
You’re just a little bit tempted aren’t you? Alternatively, you could save a bundle of cash and try your hand at a tilting vehicle of the two-wheeled variety.
CARVER ONE Price: £32,995 Why you should: Excellent for doing Valentino Rossi impressions without getting wet – or falling off Why you shouldn’t: Not exactly cheap for a toy
I'm sure I saw one such vehicle on the Evo triangle some weeks back!
I was parked in a layby chatting to some folk from a Lotus club who'd driven up from South Wales...and the look of pure WTF on everyone's face when this thing flew past and tilted into a right hander was quite something!
£33k ? Even £30k? It's a motorbike with a lid on it with a lawnmower engine bolted to it. Sorry but I'm just not seeing justification for the price(s) in the pics. £10k at a push.
Always fancied a go in one of these. A local budget car hire firm had one available but I never had the time to rent it out. It appears that they are now selling it with 20,000kms on the clock for CHF20k [£13k]
Aye, and it's not clickable from 'MY STUFF' either, have to go to GENERAL GASSING forum, find it in the list and then click on the folder. Someone give it a thread title pls.
I was hunting around for one of these a few years back as a commuting tool .... until i saw the prices! £30k! .... that was A LOT of train tickets, so i stuck with pubic transport - which was obviously MUCH more fun than whizzing along in a pretend F-14 with 'Maverick' decals just below the canopy window
I belive there was a similar project from the USA a few years back but it seemed to sink without trace, unfortunately .... but if the prices were similar i'm not surprised.
..... BTW, i may be wrong, but it tilts so you wouldn't spill your drink - the drink would spill if it didn't tilt .... no?
I'd take a brand new Morgan 3 wheeler for 25K over the Carver every time.
Am in 100% agreement. The morgan offers good looks and performance. This thing just says "I'm not brave enough to ride a bike and don't care about decent acceleration, but I can lean... watch me lean". Yuk.
Even £30k? 
It's a motorbike with a lid on it with a lawnmower engine bolted to it. Sorry but I'm just not seeing justification for the price(s) in the pics. £10k at a push. 
