Past Press
Explosive Mixture
The Gold Coast Bulletin 15 April
2003
The Bullet, a new sports car built on the Gold Coast, will
be wheeled out for VIPs tonight in Surfers Paradise. Derek
Ogden was given an exclusive tour of the factory where the
home-town 'hero' is assembled.
Take the most popular sports car in the world, add arguably
the best V8 production engine on the planet and whack on an
Aussie-made supercharger and what do you have? A Bullet Supercar.
Body parts come from the Mazda MX5, the motor is the 4 litre
Lexus V8 and the supercharger, a Sprintex S90 from Perth-based
Advanced Engine Components.
What's more, the latest two-seater convertible is put together
at the northern end of the Gold Coast.
AEC sales and administration manager Tom Rabold said Bullet
Supercars had its origins over the border at Chinderah in
Northern NSW five years ago where John Bettini began the project
with the object of putting a rotary motor into a MX-5.
It was soon clear, however, Rabold said, that the Aussie
engine of choice was the V8 and the first cars were fitted
with the Rover aluminium unit.
"We finally settled on the Lexus V8, which we consider
just about the best of its type in the world," he said.
"Besides, they are common in Japan, so supply would
be no problem."
The first cars to come off the line were prototypes and AEC
saw their potential, so much so said Rabold, the company did
the old shaver thing - they liked it so much they bought the
company and shifted to the former Swagman motorhome factory
in Yatala.
Since then there has been a race to gain full Australian
Design Rule compliance and, to celebrate this success, the
Bullet will be officially launched on the market at the Marriott
Resort, Surfers Paradise, tonight, where invited guests will
see the car unveiled.
Two versions of the Bullet will be offered - the normally
aspirated Roadster V8 or the Sprintex Supercharged SS.
The Roadster will cost $98,000, while the Supercharger and
a package of premium gear, like bigger Brembo brakes and ROH
18in alloys, five speed manual gearbox from the Toyota Supra
turbo, Commodore IRS and fully adjustable suspension will
add a further $20,000.
The only options are a hardtop for $5000 and a CD/MP3 sound
system upgrade for $950.
The SS engine puts out 320kW at 5500rpm and 575Nm of torque
at 3700 revs driving the rear wheels, which is enough to shoot
the Bullet to 100km/h from zero in just over 5sec.
Rabold said engines were completely stripped down when they
arrived at the factory and put back together using the company's
own wiring system.
"We see the car appealing to the older buyer, maybe
the baby boomers," he said
"We encourage buyers to become involved in the manufacture
of their cars and will go to great lengths to give them the
body colour and cabin co-ordination they want."
Rabold said the company, which employed 16 people at Yatala,
had the potential to build up to 250 cars a year and was involved
in constant engineering refinement.
"We whiz the finished cars around the grounds of the
factory, do roadwork and Darlington Park Raceway is on the
doorstep for track testing," he added.
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