Wednesday 26th May 2010

Hulme CanAm: A Kiwi Supercar

New Zealand supercar maker reveals plans for limited production of 600bhp hypercar

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The makers of New Zealand's only supercar, the Hulme CanAm, have announced plans for a limited production run of 20 cars - and a price tag of £295k plus taxes.

The Hulme CanAm - named after 1967 F1 world champion, New Zealander Denny Hulme - is powered by an LS7 Corvette V8, which produces 600hp and 443lb ft of torque, not bad for a 980kg machine.

Potential customers can express their interest with a £10k - fully refundable - deposit. "Deposits will be held in a Trust account", says Jock Freemantle, Hulme's managing director, "pending a private viewing and driving experience of the car at or before the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed for those who have purchased an option to order."

UK delivery of the first cars are expected by early 2012 - the 20th anniversary of Denny Hulme's death.

But if you think buying such an expensive, bespoke supercar from New Zealand might be a bit tricky, fear not - once customers have specced-up their CanAms, Hulme is planning to lay on two Air New Zealand Business Premier return tickets to Auckland, with a week's 'luxury' accommodation, for their final fitting in the car. Then there's more road and circuit driving before the car is shipped to the customer's home. Couldn't be simpler...

Most curiously, all customers will get a one-eighth scale exact replica, finished in the same livery and specification, and a full photographed dossier of the car's build. You certainly don't get that with a Ford Fiesta...

[G4HKS]

Looks fantastic - but £200k ??

Apologies - £300k! Mad.

And what is it with manufacturers using the CanAm name? Last time I owned one it looked like this:

Edited by G4HKS on Wednesday 26th May 14:14

[Deranged Granny]

980kg is a bit lardy for a open-top car like that, isn't it?

[sootyrumble]

Hmmmm looks like someone saw the Caparo T1 and decided to make it a little wider, and twice as heavy.

Still like it though, but if your going to buy a car like this i would still prefer a Radical or Ariel Atom

[SystemParanoia]

G4HKS said:

Looks fantastic - but £200k ??

ahem.. £300k

[Mr Gear]

Baaaa.

[wackojacko]

It looks as if a KTM Xbow has been dropped on top of a Coparo T1

I'm not liking the looks or the price

[MX7]

How much would an Ultima Can-Am be? £100k with the same sort of engine?

[SystemParanoia]

now youre talking

[scubadude]

Must have been some low branches hanging off the ugly tree the first time that went out for a spin...

[Tony*T3]

Caparo for fatties?

[KrissJ]

Flippin' 'eckers, that thing looks wide! I wonder how it will drive and perform? If I was in the market for a car like that it'd have to be VERY good to convince me not to buy a Caparo T1, which looks better, in my opinion, has a lower price and proven credentials. Still, I applaud manufacturers that produce extreme vehicles like this. It shows us all is not yet lost to the tree huggers.

[ZOLLAR]

sootyrumble said:

Hmmmm looks like someone saw the Caparo T1 and decided to make it a little wider, and twice as heavy.

[busta]

I think you'd spend half your life explaining to people it isn't a £20k kit car, and the other half wishing you had bought a £20k kit car instead.

What kits are there that can take an LS V8, other than the already mentioned Ultima? Must be a few where you could get on-par performance and looks for a fraction of the price.

[KrissJ]

busta said:

I think you'd spend half your life explaining to people it isn't a £20k kit car, and the other half wishing you had bought a £20k kit car instead.

What kits are there that can take an LS V8, other than the already mentioned Ultima? Must be a few where you could get on-par performance and looks for a fraction of the price.

It's not £20k, but when the V8 Atom comes out it's supposed to be about a third of the price of the Hulme. I know which one I'd have. (It's the Atom )

[SystemParanoia]

hawk stratos?

[GravelBen]

IIRC it was under development well before the Caparo, so if there was any copying it happened the other way But shades of Ford Indigo in the rear end design I have to admit.



The price seems to change every time I read a new article about it though - often the same number but in a different currency, hard to know what it actually costs!

[GravelBen]

KrissJ said:

...Caparo T1...proven credentials...

Doesn't it have a habit of catching fire? Or was that only once or twice?

[ArtVandelay]

Caparo T1 - Similar power and about half the weight for less money

It does seem heavy for what it is.

[sootyrumble]

GravelBen said:

KrissJ said:

...Caparo T1...proven credentials...

Doesn't it have a habit of catching fire? Or was that only once or twice?

I think that was the first incarnation which had a turbocharged engine, the race spec 3.5litre v8 is an absolute masterpeice its practically a full race engine running at around 500hp but has been run successfully producing over 700hp.

[ArtVandelay]

sootyrumble said:

GravelBen said:

KrissJ said:

...Caparo T1...proven credentials...

Doesn't it have a habit of catching fire? Or was that only once or twice?

I think that was the first incarnation which had a turbocharged engine, the race spec 3.5litre v8 is an absolute masterpeice its practically a full race engine running at around 500hp but has been run successfully producing over 700hp.

Are you sure it was a t/c engine in the reviews, I thought it has always had the N/A V8 at its core. From what I've read, the car wasn't quite ready for release hence the reliability problems.