Caparo - a £650 million company with business interests in aluminium and steel processing and vehicle structural components - is to develop an advanced automotive technology and engineering design company to be called Caparo Vehicle Technologies. The new company will provide advanced technology development, materials engineering and design services to mainstream automotive, motorsport and aerospace markets. Coupled with its global manufacturing resource and capability Caparo aims to accelerate the use of lightweight materials in vehicle structures.

To launch the company Caparo has acquired the automotive consultancy recently established by Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead. Both engineers were part of the team that developed the iconic McLaren F1. Their automotive engineering skills have already spawned the impressive Freestream T1 currently in prototype build, which will now be launched as the Caparo T1. This ultra high performance road and track car is designed for low volume production to demonstrate the company’s technical know-how and competence in whole vehicle design.

Ben Scott-Geddes becomes design director of the new company, while Graham Halstead becomes engineering director. In addition to their skills in vehicle design and engineering the two engineers have particular expertise in materials technology having been responsible for the Mercedes SLR McLaren sports car; the first advanced composite all carbon body structure to undergo Euro NCAP testing during its development. This unique capability and understanding of materials performance, including how materials as dissimilar as aluminium, advanced composites, engineering plastics and high strength steel can be joined - and which is the best material for a particular part of the car - is important to manufacturers needing to reduce the weight of vehicles to make them more fuel efficient without compromising vital active and passive safety.

Caparo has recruited ex-Ricardo head of computer-aided engineering Mark Findlay as managing director, whose first task is to recruit an elite team of around 30 professional engineers with the skills necessary for handling sophisticated engineering design contracts from carmakers and first tier suppliers. Emphasis will be placed on rapid turnaround of projects so that concepts can be developed for production as quickly as possible in order for clients to gain advantage from being first to market.

Caparo group chief executive Angad Paul will take the position of chairman while fellow main board director Richard Butler will also take a seat on the Caparo Vehicle Technologies’ board. Sean Butcher who identified the commercial opportunity and brought the two parties together becomes commercial director.

"This is an exciting and logical development for Caparo," said Angad Paul. Asked to comment on the group’s move into advanced vehicle technology he added: "I warmly welcome this opportunity for the group to move up the value chain with this high added value proposition. We will use our vehicle technology company to add new materials know-how to our existing aluminium and steel structural capabilities. To me, advanced composites represents an important development in delivering to our customers better vehicle efficiency with less environmental impact and without having to compromise the enjoyment of motoring. The optimum combination of these different materials in the next generation of vehicles - be they cars, trucks, boats or planes - will be a unique selling proposition for our customers."

As well as helping to solve fundamental vehicle engineering issues facing the car industry, the huge interest and publicity already surrounding the Caparo T1 car plus the added-value once it has completed its test programme, will allow customers of the group’s advanced automotive technology company to gain additional marketing advantage by citing Caparo’s technical involvement in their vehicles.

The compact, lightweight, highly developed powertrain for the Caparo T1 car will feature a bespoke 2.4-litre V8 engine; branded the Caparo V8. The supercharged engine delivers 480 bhp at 10,500 rpm. Combined with a small motorsport transmission the complete powertrain weighs approximately 115kg; a comparatively featherweight figure which was crucial to achieving a total vehicle mass of 465 kg. This has enabled the company to be the first in the world to produce a road and track car able to exceed 1,000 bhp-per-tonne – a significant breakthrough in terms of pure automotive engineering.

The car is also highly developed aerodynamically and is designed to offer a unique race car performance experience that is simply not achieved by the current generation of sports cars. The driver and passenger of the Caparo T1 will experience extremely rapid acceleration as well as 3g cornering and braking performance comparable to that of a Le Mans prototype when on the track; yet with its 70-litre fuel tank is expected to travel safely for 600-800km on public highways without refuelling.

Caparo's Angad Paul

Audi R10 to Contest American Le Mans Series
21st April, 2006
Following the Audi R10 TDI's victorious debut at the 12-hour race at Sebring, Audi has re-defined its programme for the remaining races of the 2006 American Le Mans Series ..... more

Focus XR5 Turbo Boosts Ford Performance Arsenal
21st April, 2006
Ford has revealed the latest weapon in its high performance arsenal – the Focus XR5 Turbo; engineered in Europe and boasting performance levels that will be the envy of many larger car drivers ..... more

Aston Martin’s Retail Design Programme
21st April, 2006
Aston Martin enters 2006 with 125 dealers in 27 countries around the world, the results of an ambitious expansion led by a strong brand identity, with the emphasis on design and attention to detail ..... more

Adventure Challenge Countdown
20th April, 2006
On Sunday, 23rd April, in the thriving metropolis of Bangkok, 18 competitors will eagerly await the signal announcing the start of the 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge ..... more

Volkswagen's Worldwide Sales Record in Q1
20th April, 2006
The Volkswagen brand achieved worldwide record sales in the first quarter of 2006. A total of 795,000 vehicles were delivered ..... more

Victory for Mitsubishi in Tunisia
20th April, 2006
Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team driver Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret clinched their third victory in the Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia on Easter Monday ..... more

Peugeot Round Australia Re-Run
19th April, 2006
The ‘Peugeot Round Australia Re-Run’ will start from Sydney on Sunday, 23rd April and chart a course that will take in the route from several of the original Ampol Trials ..... more

VW Crafter Makes Its World Debut Next Week
19th April, 2006
This year’s Commercial Vehicle Show at Birmingham’s NEC, in England, will see the worldwide public debut of Volkswagen’s latest model, the Crafter ..... more

New Ford Transit To Be Unveiled Next Week
19th April, 2006
The Ford stand at this year's Commercial Vehicle Show in England (26th-27th April), will be an array of new models for the commercial vehicle world ..... more

Start of Assembly of Hummer H3 in Russia
18th April, 2006
GM and Avtotor celebrated the start of production of the Hummer H3 in Russia at a ceremony at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad earlier this month ..... more

Mazda CX-9: Zoom-Zoom With Room-Room
18th April, 2006
Mazda debuted the 2007 Mazda CX-9 seven-passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle (SUV) at the New York International Motor Show ..... more

General Motors Opens "The Drive"
16th April, 2006
“The Drive” a unique, hands-on driving facility offers a first-of-its-kind “autotainment” experience within the United States ..... more

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Voted Best Design
16th April, 2006
Aston Martin’s V8 Vantage and DB9 have taken first and third places in a high profile poll of automotive design professionals ..... more

All-New Suzuki XL7 Makes World Debut
14th April, 2006
Suzuki debuted the all-new Suzuki XL7 at the 2006 New York Motor Show. With the introduction of the new model, Suzuki is moving forward to the next chapter in its ongoing SUV success story ..... more

Bentley Continental GTC
13th April, 2006
The Continental GTC, Bentley Motors new luxury 2+2 convertible, will be unveiled at the New York International Automobile Show this week ..... more

Ford Posts Strong Small Car Sales In March
12th April, 2006
Fiesta registered 517 sales for the month, while Focus sales of 1,311 vehicles saw it record its best first quarter result ..... more

Nissan Pathfinder Ti Now With Diesel Option
12th April, 2006
Nissan has broadened its Pathfinder range with the addition of a luxury Pathfinder Ti diesel ..... more

GM to Sell Isuzu Shares
11th April, 2006
General Motors today announced it would sell its 7.9 percent equity stake in Isuzu Motors Ltd.  The commercial partnership between GM and Isuzu will continue ..... more

Aston Martin Rolls Bentley and Ferrari
10th April, 2006
Last month, Aston Martin rolled the competition by delivering 14 cars in Australia ..... more

New Line-Up for Land Rover Discovery 3
10th April, 2006
Land Rover is rationalising the Discovery 3 line-up adding as standard, leather interiors and automatic climate control on all models in the new range ..... more

Ford Designs And Builds New V8 Diesel Engine
10th April, 2006
The launch of a new V8 diesel engine at Ford's Dagenham Diesel Centre has further strengthened the site's role as the company's global centre for diesel engineering and manufacturing ..... more

The New Audi TT Coupe
7th April, 2006
The TT, launched in 1998 – sharpened the profile of the Audi brand. Now the second generation of this model is making its debut. The new TT Coupé is even more dynamic than its predecessor ..... more

The New Passat - Full of Unexpected Pleasures
6th April, 2006
What happens when designers interpret a clear, logical, intuitively perceivable style with even more power, muscle and passion than ever before can be seen in the new Passat ..... more

Morgan 4-seater Returns
4th April, 2006
The new Morgan 4-seater models that made their debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2006 are now available for sale in Australia ..... more

World Premiere Of All-New Suzuki XL-7
4th April, 2006
The New York Motor Show (NYIAS) is the venue for the global debut of Suzuki's next head-turning vehicle, the all-new 3.6 litre V6 XL-7 ..... more

New V6-powered Outlander for NY Motor Show
3rd April, 2006
The North American Mitsubishi Outlander will be powered by a new high performance 3-litre V6 MIVEC engine to deliver outstanding acceleration and high-speed cruising performance ..... more

Holden Unleashes Thunder Ute and Crewman
30th March, 2006
Holden’s ever-popular light commercial range now features special edition “Thunder” models for Ute and Crewman ..... more

Australia's Cadillacs For 2007
15th March, 2006
Cadillac, the luxury car division of America's General Motors Corporation, is expanding the availability of right-hand drive models, hence putting Australia on their 'radar' ..... more

Precious Metal - The Peugeot 407 Coupe
7th March, 2006
Peugeot have announced the pricing structure for the stunning new 407 Coupe, which goes on sale in Australia later this month ..... more