Custom Car July 1985 - Fugitive 3 Review

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Many developments in road car design can mid-engine layout. The examples are numerous, but include the Lamborghini Countach,
compounds, cylinder head shape: all of them Lotus Esprit, Ferrari Testarossa, Ford GT40
derived from research carried out on the and R5200, Fiat Xl/9, De Tomaso Pantera and
world's racing circuits. Competition was also Mangusta, AC ME3000, Jaguar XJl3,
the prime objective of mid-engined develop- Peugeot 205-16 and Toyota's MB2. And
ment, but that too has more than proved its several small manufacturers have recently
worth in pertormance road cars.
constructed cars using this configuration as
Although there have been many obvious ifs basr's. 0ver the next few months we shall
exceptions, notably current Porsches, many be looking at the latest arrivals, starting this
distinguished sportscars have utilised the month with the Fugitive lllfrom UVA.
be attributed to motorsport. Brakes, tyre
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ossibly the only drawback with the midengined cars available up to now has been
their price. lnvariably they have been exotic
sportscars built for discerning drivers, with
little regard to cost. ln an effort to provide an
economical alternative, the Unique Vehicle and
Accessory Company Ltd. have developed a midengined version of their highly successful Fugitive
ll road racer.
By using a combination of new and secondhand
parts, and one of several engine/gearbox options,
the builder can construct an interesting road car
which could, when correctly set up, be used as a
weekend warrior for motorsport. This last
statement gives us a clue to the thinking at UVA.
fhe Kitcars and Specials Magazine Challengeis
currently halfway through its second season, and
there's already a Ford Twincam-engined version
taking part in the series.
The tubular spaceframe chassis is a direct
development of their popular (they've sold more
than 150 in 12 months) Fugitive on/off-road racer
using 1% and 1 inch 14swg steel tubing. Like their
other frames this too can be purchased either fully
assembled, or only part welded for those who like
to keep the initial investment to a minimum. Prices
are expected to be €635 (plus VAT) in kit form, and
8835 (plus VAT), fully assembled.
The Iront suspension consists of a Volkswagen
Beetle ball-loint beam mounted to the chassis with
U-shaped clamps. Considering how everyday
Beetles handle this may not be regarded as the
ultimate roadlrace suspension, but it does have the
benefit of constant geometry. As time goes by, no
doubt secondhand Beetle beam suspension units
will become more difficult to locate and we will
reach a situation, as they have in America, where
brand new purpose-built beams are necessary.
Either that or something more sophisticated will be
designed. Meanwhile, various modifications are
made to the basic VW front end in order to improve
it's handling characteristics.
To begin with, the top tube is narrowed slightly in
order to introduce one and a half degrees of
negative camber. Though this measurement is yet
to be track tested, it should improve straight line
stability and reduce understeer. All of the original
suspension bushes have been replaced with
Urethane bearings, which provide a more positive
bearing surface. They are also shouldered, which
prevents small camber changes often experienced
with the non-shouldered standard bushes.
To substantially lower the car, twin-height
adjusters have been fitted to the torsion bars along
with some American-made, lowered stub axles.
These are an entirely new casting which position
the spindle higher up, thus lowering the car by
21/ein.Cal lookers take note, because they
are a bolt-on component, which can be used to
lower an ordinary Beetle.
To level out the bumps, new adiustable shock
absorbers bolt on to the stock lower mounts, but at
the top are supported on new tubular towers
welded to the beam. The braking system has also
been improved using UVA's drilled disc conversion.
These are a bolton replacement for the standard
drums utilising an 11 inch disc.
ln order to meet the legal requirement for a
handbrake the kit uses a French-made Girling
caliperwith a double-action, single piston. One
action of the piston operates the normal brakes
While the other action is cable-controlled and
operates the self-adjusting handbrake mechanism.
Meanwhile, the floating pad is held on a sliding
bracket. lt is a very neat and effective assembly.
Because the position of the engine and gearbox
is reversed from that of a normal Beetle, the rear
suspension of the Fugitive lll has been redesigned.
It now takes the form of that found in the Porsche
9241944: ie, independent, semi-trailing arms with a
transverse torsion bar for each wheel. Again, to
keep costs down, UVA have gone for the trailing
arm from a VW Variant. As at the front Urethane
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UVA's mid-engined version
of their popular on/off road
racer is not surprisingly
called the Fugitive lll. lt
consists of a tubular space-
frame chassis with Wtype torsion bar suspen-
W
sion. lt also utilises a
gearbox which, when used
with an adaptor plate, can
be bolted to a variety of
engines, eg, the Rover
Va
as shown, or any of the
Ford range plus inline
fours from Fiat, Lancia and,
of course,
W
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bearings are fitted throughout and everything is
adlustable, from the shock absorbers to the spring
plate. ln fact, the car has ground clearance
adjustment from 21/zto 672 inches: useful to
anyone using it for road and track.
Everybody knows that VW Beetle steering
leaves a lot to be desired, and particularly if one
wants to venture onto the track. To remedy this
UVA have discarded the stock box and fitted in it's
place a rack and pinion unit. This is connected to a
Triumph Dolomite steering column, adiustable for
both height and length. lt also houses all the
necessary switch assemblies for the lights, ignition
and indicators.
Moving on to the motivation, UVA have opted for
the VW Beetle gearbox, which is merely rotated
through 1 80 degrees in order to place the engine
amidships. So as not to give one forward and four
reverse gears the crown wheel and pinion
assembly has also been inverted.
Adaptor plates, to bolt a wide variety of engines
to the VW transmission, are available from UVA.
Their demonstrator is, as you can see, fitted with a
Rover V8, but all Ford engines, including the V6,
can be fitted as can the in-line fours from Lancia,
Fiat, VW, etc. And the flat-four Beetle engine can
be mid-mounted; UVA stock the necessary
exhaust manifolds too.
The question on everyones lips must be can the
VW box take the kind of power those engines
produce? Or will you have to go to the expense of a
purpose-built transaxle from ZF or Hewland. The
JULY 1985
a good condition, standard box will
take 150bhp at the flywheel. ln beefed-up form the
gearbox is good for 250 bhp; not supercar
standards, you'll agree, but 250 horses in a car of
this weight is more than enough. lt calculates to
approximately 400 bhp per ton. Besides, getting
more than 250bhp from any of those engines is not
going to be cheap, and if you're prepared to spend
that kind of money perhaps you'd better get a
purpose-built box from the start.
ln this Rover V8 version UVA have uprated the
box with a fixed spacer between third and fourth
gears (instead of the spring spacer normally used),
a heaw duty keyway, locked third and fourth
synchro hubs and a differential with four spider
gears instead of the usual two. lt all makes for a
very tough, lightweight and reasonably inexpensive
transaxle. Suspension on the VB is independent,
rather than the swing axle/assembly f rom a 1 600 cc
Beetle, with uprated driveshafts and a heavy duty
differential side cover.
The all-aluminium Rover V8 has been f ully
balanced and cleaned up, but remains basically
stock at the bottom end with the exception of an
Auto Power Services 224 camshaft. However, the
heads have been polished and ported and topped
off with an APS modified SDI inlet manifold and a
answer is that
ul40cfm Holley four-barrel carburettor. With UVA
tubular headers it produces approximately 230 bhp.
Other minor modifications to the drive train
include the fitment of a remote oil filter and a
Bugpack racing clutch with ceramic centre plate.
The clutch has also been sub.lected to a UVA
hydraulic conversion.
lncidentally, the engine/gearbox unit is now
mounted at five rather than three points. There is
the original tailshaft mounting for the VW gearbox,
plus the two stock VW bellhousing mounts and, of
course, the two standard Rover engine mounts. A
close examination of these shows that they are
very widely spaced and are not at all like the
originals. This wide spacing is intended to spread
the torque load over a wider area and help reduce
chassis flexing.
Cooling a rear or mid-engined car has always
presented the designer with some problems. You
either put the rad up the front and run water tubes
the length of the car- and suffer the subsequent
problems of possible leaks and insufferably hot
cockpits, as have some Ferraris - or you put the rad
behind the engine and suffer overheating problems
caused by engine heat and the difficulty of ducting
air onto the radiator. When Ferrari come up with an
answer to the problem it would be stupid to ignore I
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their experience. UVA have therefore mounted
their radiators on either side of the engine, ahead of
the rear wheels. Ferrari, with 400 horsepower and
two turbos, needed to stand the rads right out in
the breeze, but UVA feel that the position of their
radiators, with Testarossa-style ducts in the
bodywork, plus Clovacool electric fans, will be
more than sufficient to cool the Rover.
lncidentally, the rads - taken f rom a VW Golf GTi
- are a combination of alumlnium and plastic. Both
have their own thermostats and they are mounted
in series, so the water runs from the block through
one rad into the other and back to the block. A neat
trick is the use of flexi hoses which are, of course,
stocked by UVA.
The cockpit is, to say the least, basic. There is
obviously no weather protection and the aluminium
framed tinted and toughened screen is of mimimal
height, to avoid the legal requirement for wipers
and washers. My experience in a roadster with
neither of those mechanisms, in this unpredictable
climate, says something will have to be done there.
Neither is there any heating, other than that
created by the radiator cross pipes, though it
occurs to sombody old and f rail like me that it
wouldn't be too difficult to rig up something.
A full complement of VDO Night Design gauges
are mounted in the aluminium dash panel.
There's a mid-engirled gear shifter assembly
mounted between the UVA seats. The latter, which
might look a little basic, are in my experience quite
comfortable, even on a long journey. The
handbrake lever is mounted to the right of the
driver's seat.
The pedal assemblies are all products of UVA,
and their latest design, the dual circuit brake pedal
being much easier to adjust,
The eight gallon aluminium fuel tank is mounted
alongside the pedals between the driver's and
passengers' legs, where it helps keep the centre of
gravity low and is also well-protected f rom
accident damage.
Though lacking in creature comforts, the cockpit
is roomy, being 54 inches at it's widest point, and
both adequate and purposeful. Anyway, who
needs tuck and roll in what is supposed to be a
ceiebrate our series on midengined cars we have decided to
give away a Toyota MR2,
the
brightest mid-engined sportscar on
the scene. After very successful launches
in Japan and America the car was introduced to the UK in mid-March and, as you
can't have failed to notice, was highly
praised here too.
I haven't met one journalist who didn't
throw all his preconceived conceptions of
Japanese products out of the window and
welcome it with open arms. Five or six,
including myself, have already purchased
one for personal use and are more than
pleased with their performance. I must
admit, however, my wife has taken the
keys and l've rarely seen either of them
since.
fuel consumption figures, but taking
easy
it
it
returns around 40mpg. And even
on the running-in limit of 4000rpm, the
MR2 pulls over 75mph in fifth gear.
Because the engine is right behind your
ears, at cold tickover and high speed it's
somewhat intrusive. However, at normal
operating temperatures and speeds it is
hardly noticeable.
The stereo is only one item on a long list
Toyota (GB) Ltd only plan to sell 2000
this year so it was rather a scoop for us to of standard equipment, which would be
secure one for our competition. But before optional on anything British. lncluded are
I tell you about that, let me tell you electric windows, tinted glass, halogen
something about the car. MR stands for headlamps, electric door mirrors, electric
Midship Runabout, which as if it wasn't door locking, tilt column, sun roof, and
obvious by now, means the engine is interior levers for the boot, bonnet, fuel
mounted ahead of the rear wheels. Our flap and engine compartment.
feature on the Fugitive lll talks about the
The interior is actually the neatest of all
benefits of the mid-mounted configuration
and the MR2 is the proof of those theories:
it handles like a sportscar should, the ride
being firm but not jarring. lt actually gives
you the confidence to throw it into bends.
The only trouble is you tend to drive it a
damn sight faster than really you ought.
The 1600cc four-cylinder engine, the same
as that found in the new front-wheel-drive
Corolla GT, revs beyond seven grand and
produces more than 120bhp. Even with the
car weighing in at just under the ton, the
the Japanese cars we have tested. lt is well
laid out and functional, without any of the
usual tackiness, and the seats are superb:
firm and supportive, but just a bit'gosh' in
bright red velour. Luggage space is limited, but there's no room in my roadster
either, so what the heck?
Having whetted your appetite with all
these interesting snippets of information
l'm afraid l've got to tell you to hang on.
We won't actually be running the competition until the October issue - for the
engine is easily capable of accelerating it simple reason that that is the first cover we
from 0 to 60mph in eight seconds and have free, Remember, the October issue
ultimately to something over 120mph. As goes on sale on September 13, and you'll
we are still running-in ours, or we were have your chance to win our Toyota MR2.
Tony Thacker
when I last saw it, I don't have accurate
roadgoing race car?
That about wraps it up - or at least five pieces of
glassfibre wrap it up. The f ront fenders - sorry,
wings, are, I think, extremely neat. Especially when
you look at some of the others on the market.
;.ese, as wellas the bonnet, are the same style as
::e Fugitive ll components. But the same cannot
3e sa;d of the side panel/rear wing sections! Rather
:.aa the Fugitive ll's separate wings the Fugitive lll
:srs are moulded into the side panels which have
-es:erossa-style fins. These functional scoops duct
a ' :^lc the side mounted radiators.
- -v op nion, for what that's worth, I think the
=- j: ,e ll s an extremelytough-looking carand, if
: s oerormance proves equal to it's looks, I think
'/. e - gnt just have the next project car lined-up. TT
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