A TALENTED mechanic has built Australia’s first 'hyper car' – in his shed. The Quantum GP700 was born out of the seven-year passion project of its creator, Jeff David. Aimed at producing breathtaking performance in a road legal car – the Quantum can reach 0-60mph in a staggering 2.6 seconds. Jeff, who resides in Victoria, Australia, worked for around 1,800 hours to develop his masterpiece that is now worth approximately over $750,000.
Video Credits:
Videographer / director: Behram Batra
Producer: Danny Baggott, Ruby Coote
Editor: Sonia Estal
Video Credits:
Videographer / director: Behram Batra
Producer: Danny Baggott, Ruby Coote
Editor: Sonia Estal
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00The Quantum is a culmination in my lifelong dream to build a supercar.
00:20This is the Quantum GP700, and that 700 stands for both the 700 horsepower it produces, and
00:28the incredibly low 700 kilos it weighs. That's an incredible 1 to 1 power to weight ratio.
00:42It might look like a track car, and it does 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 2.6 seconds.
00:53That's only a fraction slower than a Formula One car. While you might think it took a whole
00:58Formula One size team to put it together, it was in fact built by one man, Jeff David.
01:05And perhaps most incredibly of all, not only did Jeff build this car himself, he built it
01:10in his shed.
01:13So my dream was to always build the Quantum, so I thought I would start with the best car
01:19at the time, the best roadster that I could buy, and that was an Aerial Atom.
01:23So I bought one, and I dismantled it, and then started modifying it. So I progressively altered
01:32the engine and the chassis and the drivetrain and the brakes to improve the performance,
01:38eventually culminating in a car that weighed 700 kilos and had 600 brake horsepower.
01:42Having modified the Atom, Jeff used his knowledge to set about building the Quantum from scratch.
01:49Starting at the nose, we've got the hand-fabricated front wing that I made. The design was based
02:01on a Formula Three wing, and I shaped it to try and give a really narrow front nose. Come
02:08around here, and you can see all the moulds. I made all the original panels for the Quantum in
02:16carbon fibre. As we've all seen in Formula One cars, when they have an accident and the
02:21track's strewn with carbon fibre all over, it shatters. So I experimented with various
02:28ballistics grade Kevlar weaves and aramid cloth and carbon fibre mixtures. This is a result,
02:35if Bez pants down to the ground, and I tried this, it's unbelievably robust for carbon fibre
02:44Kevlar aramid cloth. The tyres are roadly or semi-sleak, the steering wheel is custom-made.
02:53Jeff's talent for custom making even extended to creating a bespoke engine for the car.
02:59The engine's evolved over many different versions. The overall result has been its progressive
03:06increase in power from the 300bhp where we started to 700hp now. It's probably the highest
03:15powered supercharged engine in the world of that style, which is emission compliant and road
03:22legal. And Jeff even made sure the car was comfortable to drive.
03:33During the design process of the car, it was really important to me that the car was comfortable
03:38to drive on the road. And I applied suspension that I've developed over 30 years into shock
03:45absorber concept on the quantum. And that's actually worked much better than I ever expected it might have.
03:55It provides a comfortable, compliant ride on our very rough roads.
04:03The whole process was enormous, time consuming. I'd get up at 5.30 in the morning and curfew was enforced
04:16by my wife at 7 o'clock at night and that was 7 days a week. My wife was really lowly and she
04:22offered to provide the financial support for the family. She gave me a two-year deadline so I was able
04:28to work full-time for two years uninterrupted and to try and get the car finished.
04:34The component cost was about just over 300,000 US three years ago when the car was built.
04:40And it's approximately 1,800 hours to build the car.
04:45With a price tag that has definitely exceeded $300,000, Jeff's masterpiece isn't for Sal.
04:52Although he hasn't ruled out the possibility of building a new model if he found an eager customer.
04:57I just love the look of the car and the way it's turned out, the handling, the performance, the exhilaration.
05:05Every aspect of the car, I really enjoy it and I really love it.