RE: New British sports car: exclusive

[teigan]

it's no worse than what lotus is producing and for less dosh. i hope the lack of interesting available product will inspire more upstart production car companies to emerge.

[hobgoblin]

Well done, Javan; a bold car and well done for coming on the forum and chatting to us.

I genuinely hope it sells, but I think the car is suffering from two problems: it is expensive; most people who love light cars don't have that sort of cash and, two; if they did they would want a roof. It seems that it is relatively easy to build a car without..waterproofing: Renault Spyder, Arial Atom and the wonderful little Deronda F400 which I drove a few years ago, but 600kgs, 200bhp and a roof for less than £25k seems a step too far..

Good luck.

[exi-r]

Hi, Just a few things from an exi-r owner!
I am about 50% of the way through my build and indeed opted for the type-r engine so will be roughly the same performace as the Javan when completed.

I did not even know that Javan existed when I bought my kit and thought that I would probably spend around £15k on a completed car!! I now know that this figure was hopeful at the best and now think it will be more like 23k

If I had known about Javan would I have considered buying the completed car from them and the answer would have to be yes but ultimately 'no'
The other half will be driving it and her only stipulation was it has to have doors so I had to wait till Marlin developed them before I placed an order, I am sure there are more potential customers out there who would be put off by the lack of doors.

However I do think that the detailing of your car is excellent and especially the rear clam!Are you going to be selling parts of the shelf?
The exhausts are better placed than the Marlin with the standard plate location and size as the Marlin plates always remind me of imported cars!

One comment I must make is that yes I agree there is a lot of quality and money gone into your product but not all exi-r are made up of scrap cars, My car will be registered new when finished as all components have been bought new from the mgzr 160 who's brakes I think will be more then capable in such a light car! All the interior will be leather and alcantara dash to finish off!

Lastly are you planning to sell parts to jo public as there are a few I would be interested in?
I wish you all the best and hope to see some on the track next year!

Rear lights look better aswell with the reverse light built in (much neater)

[JAVANR1]

Thank you very much for your good wishes Hobgoblin - very kind. Concerning your concerns over cost, there are actually more people out there than you would imagine, and remember we only need to sell 12 units per annum ( and incidentally have 6 remaining). The cost question also brings me to exi-r's comments about how much you expect your final bill to be on the Marlin. This gives a perfect illustration of the nightmare specialist vehicle manufactures are faced with when the Bill of Materials is relentlessly adding up, especially when almost everything is custom engineered, and how difficult it is to build in profit - hence a £25K Javan R1!!
Thanks again - Javan

[randlemarcus]

Saw one of these beasties when holidaying in Porthhallow recently. They look gorgeous in the dry, although I presume customer cars come with a cover, rather than the tarp and bungee solution to rainy days

Lovely cars.

[JAVANR1]

Yer right there Murray!!!!!!!!

Cost me 5 quid that tarp did, let alone the cost of the bungees!

Pleased that you liked it - thanks

[JAVANR1]

Have a look at this link to a video clip of the Javan R1 prototype in action....

www.dailymotion.com/register/5a1ccb9b2e888b7fd85f92ff6/720115

[nebula]

Javan R1,do you have any stiffness values of the chassis?

[javanr1]

We did a basic twist test with the help of a couple or x race car engineers, we found only 1 degree of twist. I supose the lack of doors helps this a lot!

[nebula]

Thanks for your fast answer,is it stronger than the elise chassis?
I wish you the very best with your company ,it is a nice alternative to the elise.
What kind of glue are you using,i'm planning a project with aluminium and need very strong glue.
Regards Adnan.

[JAVANR1]

Thankyou for your good wishes. The glue we use is made by Araldite and is apparently the same that glues a 747 airliner together. I am aware of a PU two part adhesive that is just as good, if not better. TRB (technical resin bonders) would be able to advise you on this.
All the best with your project.

[nebula]

I will contact them as soon as possible,thank you very much,i will keep an eye on you guys.....