GTM Libra V6 - it was all my fault...
Discussion
At least one PH-er thought this might be a good idea, so here's some of the story of V6GTM...
Having previously built a GTM Coupé and some years later a GTM K3, I was invited by Paddy Fitch to visit the factory back in 1998 to be only the fifth person outside the factory to see their new, and as yet unnamed, car. It wasn't a runner, and they were still sorting out the location of things like the headlights, but nonetheless I was smitten. It was (and is) to my eyes a handsome little beast, and the engineering was startling. Here was a tiny company that was proposing to manufacture a composite monocoque, to which the suspension components would directly be bolted, and which had the entire engine and transmission slung off the rear bulkhead in a sort of double A-frame - pretty radical stuff!
I loved it, but pointed out that the car was so good-looking, and the engineering so clever, that it surely deserved something a little more, er, exciting, than the 1.4 K-series 4-pot that was fitted to the prototype. I suggested that a V6 would be nice, and if that were available then I'd definitely buy one... the sadly-missed Peter Beck (Paddy's partner in crime) replied with a two-word answer, the second word of which was "off!".
Eighteen months later in December 1999 I got a phone call from Paddy saying, basically, "Oh, alright then, we'll do it... but it'll cost you!".
On the 1st of November 2000 the car was complete, had passed the dreaded SVA test and was registered - and I was about £23,500 poorer! From the first day it exceeded my expectations, and Peter Beck (who had complained bitterly about the idea of putting the "boat-anchor" of a V6 in the back of his minimalist and very lightweight car), finally admitted after his first drive that it was brilliant and that I had, after all, not been a complete lunatic to suggest the idea in the first place.
There were some modifications made in the first twelve months or so - the spring rates were increased, and after the first track-day I ever went on, it was clear that the Metro radiator from the standard car, while capable of cooling the engine in moderate road use, was little more than a kettle when the car was driven at anything approaching ten-tenths. Loughborough Radiators produced a slightly wider radiator (relocating the outlets freed up some extra space), which was triple-cored. With this fitted, the standard electric fan would not fit, but off we went to Bruntingthorpe to see if I could get the car to brew up.
It didn't - temperature and oil pressure were rock-steady after a significant number of laps of the full circuit. During each run down the full length of the runway there, I discovered that I needed to lift off slightly to maintain V-max otherwise the car kept head-butting the rev-limiter in fifth. This equated to an indicated V-max of 150mph, according to the fractionally over-reading speedo - which was pretty impressive, I thought, and made me very happy.
Back at the factory, Peter Beck was intrigued by this piece of information, and after a short interlude with a calculator, the gear-box and final drive ratios, he calmly announced that the ACTUAL V-max wasn't 150mph at all - it was 165mph! I refused to believe him, but he went over the calculation again ('showing his workings', as it used to say in maths exams!), and I had to admit that he seemed to be right... other performance figures discovered over time were 0-60 in around 4.5 seconds, and 0-100 in around 12.5 seconds.
Loads of people at the time told me that I was insane to have gone to all the trouble of having the car built when a VHPD 1.8 K-series produced nearly as much as the 190bhp the V6 put out, but that was never my point - torque was what mattered, and the K-series V6 produced 85% of its peak torque at just 1,850rpm - whereas the lairiest 4-pots only managed peak torque around 5,000rpm. The car was intended to be a fast road car, NOT a trackday special, so it had leather and Alcantara trim courtesy of Automarine Interiors (sadly no longer in business), and a decent stereo. Nonetheless it's proved to be an entertaining beast at trackdays, and when tested by Track & Race Car, Luke Wood commented that it "deserved an award for putting a smile on [his] face", and also that he doubted it had put up a truly fast time on the Bruntingthorpe track... it posted a time of 1:30.1 which was faster than a lot of trackday-specific machinery that he'd tested. Considering I discovered that the rear dampers were virtually free of oil at the time, that was quite a surprise!
Work commitments abroad meant that the car was off the road in storage for a number of years (nearly five!), and I got the car recommissioned by Dudley Shearman at Talon Sportscars late last year (he'd been GTM's builder in residence and built the car in the first place). I was pretty sure that I wouldn't still fit in the car, and/or I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I had... 25 miles away from Talon's premises and I realised that both ideas were 100% wrong!
It's been a bit of a shock to discover, via PH as much as anything, that the car is as well-known as it appears to be, and that it still generates a lot of interest. I have no idea how many V6-powered cars were eventually produced - it was an expensive kit (about £16,000 for the all bells and whistles version), and when RDM bought GTM after Peter Beck's untimely death, turn-key versions were sold for around £25,000 - Lotus Elise money at the time.
On the way back home after the Mercedes-Benz World Sunday Service, I stopped off at DMS Automotive, and Rob Young re-programmed the ECU - the car clearly appreciated this, and goes even more ballistically than it did. It's now covered 85,000+ miles and still redefines just what an overtaking opportunity is.
Edited by gregstark on Friday 15th November 08:54
I love Libras. Funnily enough, there was one which lived alongside a Carrera in my mam and dad's street. Often propped up on bricks! Now, there is one in a garage in the in-laws' street. I'd not seen it in months, until I strolled past the other day and saw it looking rather forlorn under an inch of dust with the garage door open! Clearly hasn't been touched in months.
Good chap, was good meeting you the other day and viewing another one!
It's all your fault you know - after hearing the V6 in yours mine just doesn't seem the same...
So I'm fitting a decat as soon as it's fabricated, and the missus is slowly coming round to the idea of throttle bodies!
Off topic, but did you get a chance to see the stainless fastener chap?
Sam
It's all your fault you know - after hearing the V6 in yours mine just doesn't seem the same...
So I'm fitting a decat as soon as it's fabricated, and the missus is slowly coming round to the idea of throttle bodies!
Off topic, but did you get a chance to see the stainless fastener chap?
Sam
Mornin', Sway - got sidetracked and spent a day 
down in deepest Cornwall to visit Richard Oakes who of course designed the Libra (and the Nova, and various Midas cars, and the GTM K3, etc., etc.)
Will be heading off to the stainless fastener chappie today - what I'll do is get him to quote a price for a dozen hex-screws + washers. That would be a full set plus one spare, you see...
News by lunchtime, I promise!
down in deepest Cornwall to visit Richard Oakes who of course designed the Libra (and the Nova, and various Midas cars, and the GTM K3, etc., etc.)Will be heading off to the stainless fastener chappie today - what I'll do is get him to quote a price for a dozen hex-screws + washers. That would be a full set plus one spare, you see...
News by lunchtime, I promise!
Shadow R1 said:
Brilliant, thanks for writing that. 
Post some more pictures when you can.
I'll get some uploaded shortly - just been tearing the computer apart for a new primary hard-drive, and am pleasantly surprised it still works...Post some more pictures when you can.
Have to say I was surprised when leaving the PHSS when the marshals insisted I give it the beans on the way out - I did point out to them that we'd been asked to behave ourselves, but they seemed determined that I should 'misbehave' when leaving...
... so I did! Wheelspin all the way into third (granted it was on damp tarmac...)
Ranger 6 said:
RobbieKB said:
Great story. I'd like to see more shots of the car! Perhaps interior, engine bay, tail-end etc.
+1 
I'll get them posted tomorrow - watch, as they say, this space...
gregstark said:
Ranger 6 said:
RobbieKB said:
Great story. I'd like to see more shots of the car! Perhaps interior, engine bay, tail-end etc.
+1 I'll get them posted tomorrow - watch, as they say, this space...
robsa said:
Peachy car - think you could pop a Busso V6 in it?!
Pardon my ignorance here, a 'Busso V6'? If that's the Alfa 3-litre lump, then it's quite a bit bigger than the K-series engine, and a whole lot heavier. The short answer would probably be 'No' - the rear of the Libra contains a cradle that bolts to the rear bulkhead of the cabin, and the K-series V6 was a bloody tight fit. The car was designed to use the K-series 4-pot and that's a very compact engine. Audi V8s have also been suggested, but there really isn't much more room - I'll upload some photos of the engine bay and rear suspension of my car, and you'll see just how tight a fit this engine was...Newly taken photos are here, folks! There is a noticeable amount of good Cornish mud on the car, after my trip down to Penzance to visit Richard Oakes a couple of days ago... sorry about that, but it does prove I use the car, and am not too 'precious' about where and when!!
Seats are Sabelt items which were recovered in leather when the car was built in 2000 - have survived 13 years so far!
Interior refurbishment still incomplete - sound-deadening and carpets to be added now that the Dynamat's installed.
Front clamshell hides battery (under the spare wheel), radiator, heater unit, washer bottle. Panels designed to provide crush-zone in the event of a collision...
Front suspension is classic unequal-length wishbones, bolted directly to the monocoque with spreader plates on the inside.
Rear compartment consists of the framework that supports the engine and gearbox - it also provides the pivot points for the rear clamshell. All loads are fed forwards into the rear bulkhead of the monocoque.
This is the forward end of the twin trailing arm suspension. The pivot points for the upper arm are deliberately slanted so that the suspension upright is pulled inwards at the top during bump (compression), increasing the camber to maintain the correct relationship between tyre and road. Clever, innit? Muddy, too!
Needs cleaning, I know... not a lot of space to fit the engine and 'box. Forward bank of V6 is buried in the rear bulkhead and hidden under the air-intake trunking - GTM had to modify the monocoque to provide the required clearance.
Rear clamshell can be used as an airbrake - not recommended, though!
Pert rear end - hopefully that's offended no-one?
Chromed badges make it look a little more like a 'production' car - but from which manufacturer(s) were they filched?
It is quite wedge-shaped, isn't it?
There is some useful storage behind the seats - not something that an Elise can boast!
Original (i.e. 13 years old) trim still looking pretty good. The leather covers the underside of the removable roof panel, which will stow behind the seats. I got the trimmers to replicate the quilting of the seats - looks a bit more planned that way, I reckoned.
Seats are Sabelt items which were recovered in leather when the car was built in 2000 - have survived 13 years so far!
Interior refurbishment still incomplete - sound-deadening and carpets to be added now that the Dynamat's installed.
Front clamshell hides battery (under the spare wheel), radiator, heater unit, washer bottle. Panels designed to provide crush-zone in the event of a collision...
Front suspension is classic unequal-length wishbones, bolted directly to the monocoque with spreader plates on the inside.
Rear compartment consists of the framework that supports the engine and gearbox - it also provides the pivot points for the rear clamshell. All loads are fed forwards into the rear bulkhead of the monocoque.
This is the forward end of the twin trailing arm suspension. The pivot points for the upper arm are deliberately slanted so that the suspension upright is pulled inwards at the top during bump (compression), increasing the camber to maintain the correct relationship between tyre and road. Clever, innit? Muddy, too!
Needs cleaning, I know... not a lot of space to fit the engine and 'box. Forward bank of V6 is buried in the rear bulkhead and hidden under the air-intake trunking - GTM had to modify the monocoque to provide the required clearance.
Rear clamshell can be used as an airbrake - not recommended, though!
Pert rear end - hopefully that's offended no-one?
Chromed badges make it look a little more like a 'production' car - but from which manufacturer(s) were they filched?
It is quite wedge-shaped, isn't it?
There is some useful storage behind the seats - not something that an Elise can boast!
Original (i.e. 13 years old) trim still looking pretty good. The leather covers the underside of the removable roof panel, which will stow behind the seats. I got the trimmers to replicate the quilting of the seats - looks a bit more planned that way, I reckoned.
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