Connaught Motor Company's Type-D Hybrid Sports Coupe

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Connaught Motor Company's Type-D Hybrid Sports Coupe

A new British coupe was unveiled at Goodwood motor racing circuit earlier today, reviving the classic Connaught racing-car marque. The Type-D is a 2+2 sports coupe and will feature a V10 petrol engine and electric hybrid technology when it goes on sale; production is planned to start in May 2006, with a finished car intended to be ready by this time next year.

The Type-D's chassis will be fabricated from tubular and sheet steel, clothed with aluminium bodywork. Company officials ambitiously intend the front-engined, rear-drive machine to have a very light 750kg dry-weight (giving a kerb weight of perhaps 850-900kg, or more if the dry-weight doesn't include the 48-volt battery). Its all-aluminium, compact 2.1-litre petrol V10 engine develops 162bhp at 6,000rpm; a five-speed manual gearbox is standard. A press release claims 0-60mph acceleration in 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 140mph.

Suspension is by a derivative of double-wishbones all-round, but instead of traditional transverse alignment, the lower arms will be longitudinal, so that the front suspension is by leading arm, the rear by trailing arm.

Connaught's partners include Coventry University, which has students studying transport design, and EPM technology, which will manufacture the car. A convertible is also planned, with three glass panels that electrically stack into the boot.

Conceived by two ex-Jaguar consultant engineers, the Connaught project has so far received £461,000 from the Energy Saving Trust because of its potential green credentials. A 48-volt hybrid power-system should help increase fuel-efficiency, as would the car's light kerb weight. The company also eventually intends to homologate the car through full European Type Approval and expects it to score the full five stars in EuroNCAP's crash tests once production begins. That said, production of the first 50 cars will be through Single Vehicle Approval.

The target price for the Type-D is £35,000, which would see it compete with cars such as Mercedes' CLK, higher-spec Alfa GTs and perhaps Porsche's forthcoming Boxster Coupe, as well as lighter performance cars like the Lotus Exige. Connaught eventually hopes to build around 2,000 cars a year, but the company still needs almost £5m investment to complete development of the car, as well as establish production and servicing facilities.


*Source: Channel 4