June 11, 2008

British car specialist Breckland Technology unveiled their new two seater sportscar at Canary Wharf yesterday and it looks like a real stunner.  The Beira features a 6L V8 powerhouse that produces just shy of 400 bhp. Tipping the scales at just short of 1,400 KG the lucky owners will have their very own pocket rocket in the garage.  The vital statistics are a sub five second 0 – 60 and top speed limited to 155mph.  Due to go on sale in November this year the Beira offers a real alternative to standard sports cars.

“Beira carries on from where Marcos and TVR left off in terms of providing maximum performance for money spent, and real individuality”, says Breckland Director, Mike Rawlings.

“We wanted to showcase Breckland’s design and engineering capabilities and produce an exciting driver’s car, with excellent handling dynamics, terrific performance and great looks,” he added.

“We also looked seriously at environmental concerns and, as a result, Beira is designed to run on Liquefied Petroleum Gas as well as petrol.  This not only helps to reduce running costs and emissions, but also means Beira is capable of a range of some 700 miles between refuelling stops - that’s the equivalent of travelling non-stop from the north to the south coast of France.”

In the current climate of high fuel costs and the prospect of increased taxation on higher polluting cars this prudence shows a car maker thinking of the long term consequences of driving.

The Beira is based on a North American General Motors platform, the Kappa.  The British car specialists have used the engine found in the Corvette and Pontiac GTO, also supplied by GM, which provides twice the power of the original unit. 

“We didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel with Beira,” says Engineering Director, Mark Easton. “The Kappa platform offers a highly competent chassis, which has been subject to intensive crash and safety tests, and is readily available. 

“Since all of the hard work has been done, it has enabled us to keep development costs low.  Over the years, and through our own experience, we’ve seen many supercars come and go, due in part to their massive development costs, and we were adamant that we would not fall into the same trap.  That’s why we developed the Beira where we needed to, not for the sake of it.  It has also enabled us to bring the project to fruition in less than 12 months.”

The mighty, fuel-injected, aluminium V8 and Tremec six-speed manual gearbox are neatly packaged under the Beira’s swooping bonnet, with a bespoke wiring harness and ECU, the latter being reprogrammed to allow the V8 to deliver close to 400bhp, combined with a dual-fuel capability.

Other key considerations involved significant attention to chassis dynamics, to ensure the car corners, steers and brakes effectively with the significant increase in engine output.

To satisfy this requirement, the fully independent suspension was entirely re-engineered by Breckland in association with KW Suspension, with uprated springs, dampers and bushes, plus thicker anti-roll bars front and rear.  The result is slightly less suspension compliance, but a more focused ride and handling. 
Stopping power is provided by impressive, 325mm ventilated discs on all four corners, the fronts being grasped by six-pot callipers, with four-pot at the rear, both from UK specialists, HiSpec.
 
The Breckland Beira is designed very much as a high-quality low-volume, affordable sportscar for enthusiasts, and follows the highly appealing tradition of installing an easily available,

American-designed V8 engine in a small, nimble, two-seater chassis to produce an exhilarating, high-performance package.  Although using a tried and trusted concept, however, Beira is very much a vehicle for the 21st century, and accomplishes this with both environmental and fuel efficiency concerns in mind.

“We have received tremendous interest, and orders, for Beira already,” says Mike Rawlings. “The car debuts in left-hand drive form, underlining its appeal to enthusiasts in Europe and well beyond, and will be available in the UK and internationally via our appointed agent network from November 2008.” 

The Breckland Beira on-the-road price will be confirmed shortly but is expected to be in the region of £55,000 in the UK.

We can’t wait to get a test drive!

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