Caparo T1 to ‘debut in action’ at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The much heralded Caparo T1 will make its first public appearance as a running car at the 15th Goodwood Festival of Speed. The T1 will be one of the star attractions at this world famous UK event, which will be held over the weekend of 22-24 June 2007.

The T1 will participate in the Goodwood hill climb; a 1.16 mile course running through the parkland grounds of Goodwood House and the principal attraction at the annual Festival of Speed. The car will make its ‘debut in action’ as part of the Sunday Times ‘InGear’ Supercar run.

The T1 will also be displayed as part of the Goodwood technology pavilion, a new feature at this key festival event in the motorsport social calendar. This is particularly relevant to the T1 as the display will help showcase Caparo’s lightweight vehicle design capabilities.

The T1 is designed and produced by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, a new engineering design company created by the rapidly expanding Caparo group to provide advanced technology, materials engineering and design services to automotive, aerospace, defence, marine and motorsport clients.

“The Caparo T1 not only looks and performs like a Formula One car but it also helps us to demonstrate new and advanced technology to carmakers and automotive component suppliers,” says operations director Ben Scott-Geddes.

“The same approach to aerodynamics, choice of materials and efficient design, which has allowed us to develop the T1, can be applied to create safe, affordable, fuel-efficient and lightweight family cars.”

The T1 promises an astonishing 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds and the closest experience yet to a Formula One race car on the track. With every cubic millimetre of the vehicle shaped solely by its functionality, its performance should prove as dramatic as it looks. The power is delivered by a Caparo V8 engine which can produce in excess of 550bhp in a car with an ultralight kerb weight of approximately 500kg; around one-third the mass of the average family saloon.

“This is 100kg lighter than a fully ballasted ready-to-race Formula One car,” said Graham Halstead engineering director Caparo Vehicle Technologies. “It means the T1 can deliver a comparable power-to-weight ratio well in excess of 1,000bhp-per-tonne.”

“Goodwood’s Festival of Speed provides an ideal setting for the T1,” said Sean Butcher commercial director Caparo Vehicle Technologies. “With more than 500 journalists, press photographers, TV channels and radio stations covering the event worldwide, the T1 will certainly be in the media spotlight – which seems appropriate as everyone wants to see how this car performs.”

The Caparo T1 is an uncompromised high performance two-seater designed to give customers an affordable and reliable season on the track without incurring the extraordinary costs of running a real Formula One car. These highly exclusive £180,000 (excluding taxes) hand-built cars will be built for customers this year with the first being delivered in May.