| Jim intended for the Coupe to be part of the Superformance
product line from the beginning. His early research, including construction
of a Daytona Coupe replica kit purchased in the USA, told him several
things. First, an exact replica was impossible. There was no definitive
Daytona Coupe design. There were six Daytona Coupes, all hand made and all
different. Add to that mix the Willment Coupe. Whatever path chosen - pick
one car, blend the design of all of them - would be wrong more often than
right. Second, the original frame and leaf spring suspension design was
antiquated in 1963 when the Daytona Coupe was designed. Brock had no choice
about the chassis design (remember Appendix J), but Jim did. Third, the
original cars were too confined inside and too uncomfortable to command much
of a following as a usable car. It became apparent that a replica of the
original was not only impractical, but also impossible. The only solution
would to create the definitive Coupe from scratch, drawing on history, but
in the end creating a new, modern car with spiritual ties to the past. Jim
knew that there was only one person who could really say what the definitive
shape was - Peter Brock, the designer of the original. So without Peter as
leader, there could be no project.
During a 1996 trip to California, Jim asked Jerry Bernheimer, a parts
supplier to Hi-Tech and the original Los Angeles dealer, if he could locate
Peter Brock. Jerry remembered that Peter lived in Anaheim Hills at the time.
They looked him up in the phone book, called him, and set up a meeting at
Bernheimer’s facility.
Peter listened to what Jim had to say, and then declined. He said that he
had been approached about such a project a number of times and that it was
too important to him to become involved with a kit car manufacturer. It just
wasn’t what he had in mind.
Jim replied that he would drop the project. Since others had attempted
Daytona Coupe based kits, Peter was curious as to why Jim would not proceed
on his own. Jim replied that he wanted to do it right and without Peter on
board to guide the project and show them how to do it right, he wasn’t going
to proceed. Curious, Peter continued the conversation. Jim assured Peter
that if he joined the project, he could pull the plug at any time and the
work would stop immediately.
Pete was very impressed with the design, quality, and manufacturing of
the Superformance cars. He recognized the factory’s potential as a real
automobile manufacturing facility, producing real automobiles, not component
collections. And he was so impressed with Jim’s vision for Superformance and
his commitment to making that vision a reality that he agreed to help if Jim
would allow him to select the chassis designer.
Pete wanted Bob Negstad to do the new car’s chassis design. Bob had done
the original GT-40 and 427 Cobra chassis designs while working for Ford.
Pete thought Negstad was one of the top suspension designers in the world.
Unfortunately, Negstad had never had the budget or the facilities at AC Cars
to do the original design he really wanted for the 427 Cobra.
When Negstad arrived at AC cars in England in 1964, he found that the
frame tubes had already been cut for a 90-inch wheelbase instead of the
93-inch wheelbase he had envisioned. He was forced to redesign the entire
car in a couple of weeks to fit the now revised wheelbase. Negstad never
considered the 427 his best effort and never delivered what he ultimately
wanted for the design.
Peter called Bob Negstad and arranged a meeting between Jim and Bob in
Detroit. A half hour was all that Bob would schedule. Bob arrived at Jim’s
hotel at 10:30 in the morning. Jim laid out his vision and reviewed his
chassis design sketches. Bob reviewed his theories behind his suspension
design. The “half hour” meeting eventually ended when Jim dropped Bob off at
his house at two o’clock the next morning.
Bob agreed to take Jim’s sketches and convert them into a proper chassis
design. With Price and Brock he realized he would finally have another shot
at doing it right. So the dream team was formed – Peter Brock with the car’s
design, Bob Negstad with the chassis, and Jim Price with the vision, the
manufacturing facilities, and the budget.
Later that year, Jim and Bob again met in Detroit this time with Peter,
Ron Rosen, and Bob Bondurant. During the meeting, the general parameters for
the Coupe design were laid out.
The Superformance Coupe would not be hampered with the design constraints
of the original Daytona Coupe. The Daytona coupe was never intended as a
production car. Pete designed it specifically for racing. No street models
were ever considered. These design criteria called for minimum interior
space (low frontal area) and minimum creature comforts (low weight). Without
these constraints, the Superformance Coupe could be designed as a real
street-legal high performance GT coupe equally at home on the road or on the
track. It would be a 200 mph car with handling and braking to match. |
