Southend sea-front, the year is 1986 and, thanks to an Oscar-worthy tantrum, I have managed to free a couple of shiny twenty pence pieces from my father’s pocket.
I make a beeline for the shiniest and most elaborate cabinet in the whole place -- Outrun. Not only is it a chance for me to drive my first Ferrari, aged only six, but this is no ordinary game: the cabinet tips and lurches in response to the steering wheel inputs, making it an even more exciting prospect.
I deposit my 20p, pick Magical Sound Shower for my driving music, select manual gears (it’s not real driving otherwise -- I knew even then) and ten seconds later the cabinet rocks backwards in response to my full-bore blast off the starting grid. Fifteen seconds later my dad is pressing the ‘Motion Stop’ button in response to my terrified shrieking.
Déjà vu all over again
Fortunately 12 years later I found that Sega hadn’t really captured the reality of driving and subsequent journeys were, in the main, shriek-free. But as the shutter of écurie25’s Old Street premises raises and I see the Carver One emerge blinking into the sunlight I start to think that this might be Southend 1986 all over again.
You see, the Prodrive-produced Carver One is a tilting car. Yup, tilting is the new upright -- hot on the wheels of tilting trains Carver has brought us the tilting car.
There are two main sections to the vehicle. The engine is a four-cylinder 659cc turbocharged lump punting out 68bhp and 74lb-ft to the rear wheels -- this equates just over 100bhp per ton based on the dry weight of 670kg. Not exactly a featherweight considering it’s only 3.4m long and 1.3m wide but enough to endow it with respectable performance of 115mph top-end and a 0-60 of 8.2 seconds. Surprisingly, considering the compact dimensions, there is also a traditional five-speed manual gearbox.
The second section is the actual cabin which actually seats two -- being a MWV (Man Wide Vehicle) the seating is arranged one-behind-the-other which makes me think that perhaps a leather flight jacket and aviator shades may have been more appropriate attire than jeans and T-shirt.
Visually the car strikes you as something that's leapt from the pages of Judge Dredd into reality -- it really is that different from anything else on the road. As I reach for the door handle I am shocked back into the real world as there appears to be the chrome handle from an MGB or some such as a means of entry. A jarringly old school touch on such an ultra-modern vehicle.
Luxury?
Once inside though the driving position is somewhat unusual yet functional -- it feels a bit like I’d sitting on a dining room chair in front of the chunky Momo steering wheel but in order to accommodate two adults in any kind of comfort in a relatively short wheel base it is a necessity. Interior accommodation is relatively luxurious with leather trimmed door panels -- although there is only one door, on the left-hand side, as the right panel houses the gear stick -- leather seats, CD player and electric windows.
Safety equipment is noticeable by its absence -- there are no airbags nor electronic safety nets but then it is essentially a hand-built car and, even with Prodrive handling engineering and production as of the start of this year, build targets are projected at only 500 units per annum. That said, the structure itself is very rigid with a steel cage construction.
Time to put my trepidation to one side and to see how the Carver performs where it matters. On the road.
On the road
Up to 7mph the Carver remains fixed in the upright position making normal manoeuvring exactly that, so the first few moments familiarising oneself with the controls are pain-free. Spying a gap I ease out into the light early evening city traffic and as I accelerate past the magic speed while turning left, I experience my first taste of the Dynamic Vehicle Control.
The DVC adjusts the slant angle of the cockpit to the speed and acceleration of the vehicle enabling a jet fighter-aping 'tilting before cornering' -- the technical explanation offered by Carver is that ‘the driver's input or steering torque is distributed between the front wheel steering angle and the cockpit tilting angle. This distribution is automatically adjusted to varying speeds and road conditions to ensure an optimal balance at all times. At lower speeds the steering torque is directed to the front wheel angle and the passenger compartment remains upright. At higher speeds the steering torque is mainly directed to the tilt angle of the cockpit and rear wheel steering.’
The real life consequence of the DVC technology is that the car leans, you laugh like a maniac and people in the street stop and stare.
Initially I automatically react against the leaning and try and counter it by adjusting my steering inputs, which means I end up wobbling down the road rattling from side to side in a most ungainly manner. Still the laughing continues but it feels as odd as unicycling though the traffic for the first ten minutes or so.
Back end out
Leaning activates one of the cars most accessible features -- activating the series of LEDs, which illuminate relative to the lean angle four green, and four red left and right. My personal best over the week I had the Carver was just shy of maximum attack angle, with three of the four red LEDs complete with a cacophony of warning buzzers. And believe me, that took some doing although in time I am sure you could become more at ease with the handling and push things further still. If you go into a bend a little too fast, there's the tendency for a little apparent understeer to be thrown into the mix -- it’s something you have to adapt to as in reality it seems there it seems that as a curve tightens you just need to dial in a little more lock than you would first thing required.
On loose surfaces the rear pushes wide like a normal RWD motor although it has to be said that it’s not really a vehicle in which you should constantly be pushing the limits due to the question mark over exactly what may happen if you really overcook it in a major way.
One of the main points of concern I have to start is that the DVC allows tilting outside the normal wheelbase -- something that sounds potentially fraught in theory but in practice is not actually a problem due to the jet-fighter style canopy offering great all-round visibility. The lack of a rear view mirror takes some getting used to if you're not a biker.
After a period of familiarisation in city traffic it’s out onto the more open urban roads and the Carver really starts to come into its own. The turbo gives great mid-range flexibility with the maximum torque being available from just 2,750rpm. Out and out power isn't in the supercar league or even up with current crop of hot-hatches, but it's plenty brisk enough when coupled with the immediacy of the handling. You can flick from left to right with the transition from maximum angle each way in just one second, so weaving in and out of parked vehicles down narrow streets soon becomes second nature -- you could be chasing MIGs through the Grand Canyon rather than popping down to Tesco. Although heading down to the supermarket might not be a great idea due to the lack of luggage space unless you are flying solo and can use the passenger seat for storage as there is no space other than a tiny parcel shelf for suitable only for -- er -- tiny parcels.
The Carver is certainly not for shy and retiring types -- everywhere you pilot it eyes follow you. It’s not just car-types that notice it either, parked up at a country pub even old ladies stop to drink in the details. Visiting the petrol station is no longer a five minute activity as you are regularly mobbed by interested parties wanting to know quite what the Carver is -- on a couple of occasions I was pursued by other drivers to my destination just to have a chat.
Falling in love again
The main drawback is the cost -- £27,650 (inc VAT) for the base model is a lot even after taking two decades of inflation into account. But one b-road blast later I’m rummaging around down the back of the sofa cushions… to drive the Carver is to fall irrationally in love with it.
Considering the proliferation of speed cameras and the rising cost of petrol it almost makes perfect sense despite the practical limitations. 45mpg on the combined cycle and each journey comes complete with the thrill of a driving experience unlike no other and at any speed faster than 7mph.
Unfortunately Carver ownership is a long way off for me as my search yields barely enough for a game of Outrun at today’s prices. Perhaps now I’m ready.
