Words from a former Carver employee

[Derwin]

Below are some emails that I received from a former employee of the Carver company. He has some good insights that I thought we all would be interested in. I did, of course, get his approval to publish these emails.

Hi Derwin,

I feel like I found a whole bunch of new friends who
share the same beliefs and passions I have.

This is just a quick mail to thank you for the welcome
you and the other members gave me. I'll put together a
more detailed mail in the next 36 hrs.

I served for nearly 16 years in the British Army and
saw action in Northern Ireland for 7 of those years.
I've done lot of things, been a lot of places and met
a lot of interesting people.

I always tried to think of myself as an ordinary guy
propelled into a sometimes extraordinary world. But
when I worked for Carver my world was turned upside
down and thrown in the washing machine!

The team that put the Carver together were engineers
and designers, without commercial or marketing help or
direction. That was the main reason I was brought in.

One day, I was reading a car magazine in Belgium,
where I lived with my wife, that had a small article
about the Carver. I found them on the Internet,
contacted them and found out that they wanted to sell
in the UK but were not sure how to go about it. I
offered to write a business plan on how I would do it
and sent it to them. About a week later, I asked them
their reaction and they asked me to come over and talk
to them about it. They signed me up for a years
contract initially and told me they had 3 aims and
these were my main goals:-
1. To establish a dealer network in the UK.
2. To get on the famous Top Gear program.
3. To have the Carver featured in a James Bond film.

My budget consisted of my salary, travel costs and my
phone bills!

There is something I want to make VERY clear about
anything I say about my time with Carver and the
people there. They are some of the most gifted,
inspired people I have had the privilege to work with
and for. The passion I have for the Carver has not
changed since 2003 when I first got in and drove one.

What they achieved is something I respect them for,
greatly. If Venture Vehicles is able to take up the
mantle and bring a 3 wheel tilting vehicle to the MASS
MARKET where it firmly belongs, then it will be a
great day for motoring enthusiasts and
environmentalists alike. And getting those 2 disparate
groups to agree to liking a particular vehicle is a
bit of a miracle in itself.

Anyway, enough rabbiting on. I'll mail you again later
with some more anecdotes and experiences from my
Carver days.

Bye for now,

Tim Hodgetts

Secone email:

Hi Derwin,

By all means, publish my mails. I wish I didn't have
the amount of experience in driving a Carver...by
comparision to other people.

When you think that over 65% of journeys are taken by
people on their own, it really makes sense to have a
vehicle that addresses the needs of commuters who use
the majority of roads at peak times. By now, the
message should have got through to the manufacturers
that drivers are not being given a true choice when it
comes to reduced road footprint, let alone carbon
emissions. If you have to drag a 5 seat sofa or a 2
seat tandem chair down the highway, which would you
rather be pulling?

When you drive a Carver in Europe, peoples reactions
are VERY different to other "supercars". People see
you in a Porshe, Ferrari or Lamborghini, then they
like the car but you are envied and to a small extent
hated because its flamboyant wealth on show. Drive a
Carver and you bring smiles to a huge proportion of
the people that see it. You get thumbs ups, people
take pictures with their phones, children point you
out to their parents and the other way round!

I was driving from Belgium to Holland one day in a
Carver and a motorcycle patrol officer came alongside
and indicated for me to pull over. He got off his bike
and looked at the Carver. You could tell he was really
interested in it, had lots of questions about what it
was like to drive and such. After about 5 minutes he
said thanks a lot and I got back in to drive off. He
waved at me, so I wound down the window. Sorry, he
said...I forgot to say you were driving a bit fast
back there! Take it easy! Then drove off.

The biggest drawback to the Carver's success was
always the price. So many people understood the point,
loved it and wanted one. Only a few can afford one and
because they are hand built, they will remain an
exclusive and exotic vehicle for only a few people.

Pitching this at an affordable price will mean that
companies will get them for fleet vehicles. Why have a
sales executive driving themselves and a laptop around
in a 5 or 7 seat SUV that looks like every other
vehicle when the Venture One stands out from the crowd
and makes sense.

People will prefer to buy one for themselves as their
second vehicle if parking is easier, its more agile on
the roads and they know the impact on the environment
is lessened dramatically.

You don't need a crystal ball to see that at the price
they are pitching this at they will fly out of the
showroom doors. The biggest problem may well be
satisfying demand.

When Microsoft first came out with operating systems,
only a few people could understand how to use them and
could afford them. They made it easier and cheaper for
everyone to buy and use and everyone did.

Bye for now and I'll catch you later.

Tim

[RAN]

Great stories Tim! Looking forward to more "down the road" ;-)

Thanks for posting them Derwin!

[Miracleman89]

This is awesome! I am truly envious!!!!! One more person who really and truthfully gets it!!!! Where I live I am surrounded by 4x4 driven rednecks that think they have to drive a Gigantic Pick up truck to be a man! And if they don't have a truck they drive a damn Hummer! I have shown a few of them the V1 and the first words out of there mentally challenged mouths is " It's a rolling coffin ! I hit that with my truck and it is gonna be a pancake"! I explain all the safety features and they say "so my truck is still bigger"! God I hate that! Small minded dip sticks! Sorry, for the rant! Anyway I am so glad to see Tim betting involved on the boards!

[cpaddock]

Hey Miracle man, thank YOU for voicing a feeling that a lot of us have, but have been reluctant to express for fear of offending some potential V1 enthusiasts. Here in Hawaii it seems the mentality is much the same as you have described. Only there is a cultural twist. In ancient Hawaii, social stature was, to some degree, measured by physical bulk.
The carry-over seems to be that the majority of Monster trucks are driven by "locals" who indeed are "bulky" and would never fit in a V1. We have laws requiring mud flaps and fenders but these are ignored by cops and drivers alike. Massive and menacing with
knobbies sticking out, headlights four feet above the road, and typically driven aggressively as if it was their right and privilage to express their anger at the "occupation" of their lands. Lincoln Navigators, Cadilac pickups and Hummers with
decals like "Nasty B****h" and "Ridin' Dirty" abound. I get exactly the same response
regarding the safety issue. So "Paradise" has its dark side. The compensations far outway these issues however, and I look forward to being among the first to ply the curves of this island with my new V1 and turn heads and perhaps make people smile rather than cringe. In fact, driving with a smile on your face is one little thing you can do to help the planet. I expect you won't be able to keep from smiling in your V1!
Thank you Tim for your openness and giving us a peek into a "tilting" world.
Alooooha!

[CelticFlyer]

Tim's emails were particularly interesting to me because I enjoy getting it from the horse's mouth, and it's always fun to get a bit of behind-the-scenes information about something that interests you.

That said, what MiracleMan and cpaddock mentioned has a universal ring to it. I've always been of the opinion that people (particularly men) who drive large trucks for the sake of it (read: do NOT need them for work) are just over-compensating for small endowments. I just feel badly for them. Like folks who need to own pit-bulls to get respect (in the form of fear) from others around them.

Uh-oh, now I've pissed off truck AND pit-bull owners! :LOL:

[Derwin]

I've always been of the opinion that people (particularly men) who drive large trucks for the sake of it (read: do NOT need them for work) are just over-compensating for small endowments.

Hey, I resemble that remark! ;)

Derwin

[CelticFlyer]

D'oh! :eek: Just kiddin', boss. :p

I meant to say "most" men. =y:

[Miracleman89]

You know I never connected the pit bull issue before but it does make sense! There are an awful lot of pit bulls around here as well!:IDEA: I think you may be on to something! Heck my brother has a pit bull too! LMAO :LOL:

I have a mastiff (the gentle Giant) So what does that say about me? :)

[CelticFlyer]

Means you'd make a loyal friend. They make great companions, too. I don't think you've got to worry about losing a hand to them if you try and move their food dish! Any Akita owners out there? They've cornered the market on owner loyalty.

[curbowman]

I have a Papillon dog: small, very smart and unique. Just the same reasons why I like the VentureOne! Coincidence?

[Derwin]

I have received a few more emails from Tim. Unfortunately, he has not given me permission to share his latest emails. But he given me the green light to post these photos that he has taken, with many more to follow. Here is his latest email:


Hi Derwin,

As promised, here are some pics from a promotional
trip we made to London.

I'll send you a longer text later on.

Bye for now,

Tim

http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=295&stc=1&d=1207999132

http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=296&stc=1&d=1207999132

http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=297&stc=1&d=1207999132

http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=298&stc=1&d=1207999132

http://flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=299&stc=1&d=1207999132

I am trying to get some "Behind the scenes" photos from Tim. I think it would be interesting to see what was going on at Carver during the development of this vehicle. Hopefully he will be sending them soon!

Derwin

[rogwild]

I noticed that the 'intake vent' is only visible on the pictures of the yellow Carver One on the left side. The vehicle pictures of the other two Carvers do not appear to have it on the right side. I wonder if these are two different models/years or if the intake is only on one side (would not surprise me in the 'quirky' Carver).

Checked my old Carver photos, and did find vents on the right side (on a few); must be a 'sport' model or newer one.

[MarkH]

I too am fascinated by these emails from Tim. It gives a good look at the thought processes at work at Carver. I have always wondered why they have not looked for the backing to mass produce these cars. I think they said in one of the videos that if they got backing they could mass produce at the cost of a Smart For Two.

I wouldn't mind extolling the virtues of 100MPG to the 4x4 bunch either. I wouldn't get anywhere but it would still be fun.

By the way, the gotta-have-a-big-truck-to-be-a-man crowd is nation wide. Usually wearing a Git-R-Done hat (with apologies to Larry). ;)

[Derwin]

Hello. Here is another email from Tim, along with a few more pictures.


Hi Derwin,

I hope you liked the pictures, I've attached a few
more that I found.

One of the things I tried to put together to create a
higher public awareness of the Carver (and sales, of
course) was to work with a small toy company to create
a working R/C model that actually tilted when being
driven.

One of my concerns was the technical aspects of a tilt
mechanism that small which stilled worked. But as
ever,the tech guys at Carver felt it wasn't a problem
to put something in a scale model that gave the same
tilt parameters as the real vehicle.

I guess you have regular contact with the management
team over at Venture. Perhaps it could be something
you can suggest to them once the design aspects are
completely decided on.

Of course, if the toy is successful then the triple
benefits are:-
1. Revenue from royalties on sales.
2. Increased awareness of Venture One.
3. Acceptance amongst the wider market.

To be honest, the Venture One is a radical change from
almost anything else on the roads. Unfortunately, with
the exception of the tilt mechanism, everything is
fairly standard and doesn't require a huge leap of
imagination to see it works. But people will need to
be educated to the features, advantages and benefits
that this new direction offers and seeing R/C models
driving in this manner will be a small step in that
direction.

Anyway, I'll drop you a line later today.

Bye for now,

Tim

http://www.flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=300&stc=1&d=1208085616

http://www.flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=301&stc=1&d=1208085616

http://www.flytheroadclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=302&stc=1&d=1208085616

It's a funny thing that you guys started talking about a RC model of the V1. I received this email from him yesterday where he talks about the very same thing! Actually, I had a similar idea a few months ago, but thought it would be way too expensive to design and produce. But I think I will dig a little deeper into this by contacting a friend in China. As you know, we can get almost ANYTHING made in China, and at a fraction of what it would cost here.

Before I do this, please give me some feedback. What size do you think a radio control vehicle should be? Also, what COLOR should it be? Of course, it would TILT like the actual V1, and it would have to have the club logo plastered on the side!

Anyway, please give me some feedback on this. I think it would be a very interesting project.

Derwin

[Miracleman89]

In my opinion I would go with a 1:6 scale model for the RC V1! If I am not mistaken I think I was one of the one's who thought of the RC car at FTR. I like tinkering with them and I actually have a Jeep Liberty right now but the V1 would just Rock! Also for color I would go with white and let it come with a sticker package. this way people could paint is whatever color they want or leave it white! Otherwise you could consider clear plastic and then we could tint it and add a small led light to make it glow!
Actually the more I think about it the more I am leaning towards a frosted clear then all we would have to do is replace the led with whatever color we wanted!

[CelticFlyer]

That's pretty cool, Derwin. Suddenly, my "crazy" idea about a Radio Controlled car based on the VentureOne doesn't sound so insane!

And MiracleMan, 1:6 scale sounds about right. Only make it so you can open it up and put a cat or small dog in the cockpit. I'd put my cat in it and give her a ride! (Just kidding, all you PETA members!)

But it would be cool to see a cat or dog at the wheel. ;)

Hey, if a squirrel can water ski, who's to say a cat can't drive?

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/GrabberOrange/twiggy2.jpg

[RAN]

One of the things I tried to put together to create a
higher public awareness of the Carver (and sales, of
course) was to work with a small toy company to create
a working R/C model that actually tilted when being
driven.

The best way to create higher sales for the Carver is to mass produce the frigging thing and sell it for half the price. Sheeeesh! You can buy a Porsche Boxster for the price of a Carver. At that price point they're never going to sell many of them. Ian hasn't made ONE yet and he's planned all along to make them affordable. What part of that equation doesn't Carver understand???

Re: the RC V-1: 1/6 or 1/8 scale would be about right (would have to really see one at those scales to get a better idea). Assuming it would be too much $$ to make them in several colors, I guess you'd have to go with white.

Re: the club logo: yes, the swoosh is definitely more of a lilac color on the mug, although I also see a tinge of it in the logo above. Also, the green has too much yellow in it for my taste; I'd rather see something along the lines of PMS 340 or 354 as the base green (Pantone Matching System, not Pre-Menstrual Stress lol). ;)

[Derwin]

I made a mistake when I posted the last email from Tim, so I moved the post to this thread where it should be. I also moved the posts that followed it. Sorry about that stupid mistake that I made! :confused:

I agree with you, RAN, I don't understand WHY Carver can't figure this out. It seems to be pretty basic math if you ask me. If they cut the price in half, and offered just a stripped down version of the Carver, they would fly off the shelves faster than they could make them!

The remote control vehicle is a GREAT idea, but we need to get some kind of detailed specs on how to duplicate the TILTING tech in the r/c version. If anybody can obtain this, please contact me. This is the first thing that the factory in China will ask me for. I was also thinking that a HUGE r/c vehicle might be nice. What about a 1:3 or 1:4 scale model?

As for the logo....I think we can make it better if you all want to do this. But I have about 30 mugs with the CURRENT logo on them. I'll need to sell this stock out........Hey, I they would now be considered retro collectors items, wouldn't they?! =y:

But if any of you have ideas about the logo, please post them here, or send me a personal email. I must say that I DO want to stay with the same DESIGN, though. I really like the design, and I paid big money to have it made. Maybe the colors can be changed. I'll consider any and all ideas.

Thanks again for all your help.

Derwin

[MVRacing]

I'd go 1/12th scale for the RC. With a clear plastic body, you can then paint it to your color choice.

Hum, bet I could come up with the mechanicals ... used to build slotcars and RC planes. Still have a bunch of that stuff around.

[Derwin]

MV,

If you can come up with the "mechanical" on how to make this work, I will definately go ahead with this. I also agree with the idea of either having a clear body or a white body. This way it can be customized by each owner as they wish. The only other thing we need to decide is what SIZE it should be.

Derwin

[Miracleman89]

1:12 scale I think would be to small. maybe for a regular size car that wouldn't be bad but with the V1 being half the width and similair in height for most I think 1:6 is perfect Not to big like the super Huge Hummers you find but not as small as a $40 tyco RC.

[waboom]

Stick with the colors they used on the mock-up at the Today Show/X-prize unveiling. That way if someone is too lazy to customize the paint job (me!) they have something finished. If they want to paint it their dream VentureOne color, the white is a good background primer.
A 1:12 scale car would yield (someone correct me if I bungled the math) 11.67" x 3.3" x 4.67" (LxWxH) while a 1:8 would yield 17.5" x 5" x 7". Personally, I'd be happy with the 1:12.

[Derwin]

I just started a new forum where we can discuss the various aspects of the R/C project. We can also start new threads within THAT forum. This way we will be able to keep everything organized while we go forward. Thanks for your help.

Derwin

[Tim Hodgetts]

Ran, I read your comment about halving the price and seeing the sales go through the roof and all I can say is that it was a direction I wanted Carver to go in. There were other ideas I came up with, such as the hatchback that people found wacky. So much so that they called me Hatchback Hodgetts! And here we are with the Venture and the things I thought of are coming to fruition.

The pricing has to be a big issue. If you look at the Venture One from a European point of view (sorry, but its difficult for me to step out of that perspective) at the price it's pitched at, it doesn't make sense NOT to have one.

The city of London brought in congestion charging where certain vehicles had exemptions on the basis of being electrically powered, or LPG. I tried to get the Carver passed for exemption, but found they didn't have a category for 3 wheelers.

That should have changed by now and I can see the Venture selling 1,000 to 1,500 in the first 18 months in & around London. Then there's the rest of the UK and Europe to think about.

This will make a difference to road congestion, pollution and parking problems in a lot of cities. The reason it will happen, and happen quickly is that the price is right for people to be able to afford one. The Carver is wanted by many, but only a few can afford it. The Venture will be wanted by many and can be bought by them too.

[Derwin]

Tim,

Welcome to the club! I am so happy you decided to join our little motely crew of enthusiasts.

Please feel free to post some inside information and behind the scenes views from you time working for the Carver company. I know that all of our members would enjoy reading about your adventures.

Thanks. And, again, Welcome.

Derwin

[RAN]

Tim WELCOME! Thanks for sharing your unique point of view, your photos, and your opinions here. It must have been frustrating to know what Carver needed to do and find your suggestions hitting a wall. I still don't understand it myself, but that's life. At least they decided that licensing their DVC overseas made sense. I don't really know how soon VV could go from the projected 4000 units/year (assuming they get there to begin with) to 40,000/year, and I don't know whether VV could even sell V-1's anywhere in Europe, but I imagine that a (ahem) few (hundred) could manage to be imported by individuals.

Please stick around and join our discussions! =y:

[MVRacing]

Tim, welcome. I second RAN's comments. It's great to have your prospective and input.

[Baja_Traveler]

Welcome Tim - having insiders like you on the board only makes it more interesting, and the valuable insite you have will help increase participation! Keep up the great stories and pictures!

[MarkH]

Welcome Tim! Thanks for sharing!

[CelticFlyer]

Yeah, Tim. It's very cool of you to share your experiences with us. THANK YOU! ;)

Anything you can offer will be warmly received by this audience, a dedicated crew of VentureOne devotees.

[rogwild]

Tim; again welcome.
Perhaps you can answer a question about the DVC system. I have read that it does not 'kick in' or activate at low speeds; but what happens when you slow down and STOP, while in a turn?

Does it maintain the angle of 'tilt' until you come to a complete stop, and then 'pop-up'; or does it transition to the vertical DURING the stop? I can see this situation as a possible 'safety concern' and would like to know how the Carver Engineers handled it.
Thanks for any insight that you can provide.

[Tim Hodgetts]

Hi Rogwild,

The question of tilting at slow speeds used to come up a lot. The guys at Carver calibrated the system very well and it didnt so much "kick in" as phase in. At slow speeds, the DVC really didn't come into its own. It was only over about 10 or 15 mph did it gradually become more tilt active.

The degree of tilt was actually controlled by the force of the turn or movement, as Richard Hammond quoted. When travelling at high speeds, such as 70 mph plus, then you could gracefully sweep from lane to lane with a slight tilt or agressively put the vehicle over at 40 degrees _/+ and push it over.

If you came to a halt at slow speeds, the tilt action didnt affect things. But if you were tilting and came to a halt from a higher speed, then the Carver slowly came back up, without a "pop" effect. Pretty graceful actually. All this happened once you had actually stopped.

[cpaddock]

Tim, thanks for that post....very enlightening! Perhaps you could clear up another point
for us and that is the functionality of the rear wheel steering. The Carver white paper shows a chart which indicates the rear wheel steering only kicks in at higher speeds. Is this due to/necessitated by the mininmal amount of actual turning angle of the front wheel at higher speeds? And does it have any relationship to manuvering/parking at low speeds?
Thanks!

[Tim Hodgetts]

Hi cpaddock,

To be honest, this is a bit on the technical side for me and it was a few years ago. I know the rear wheels did have a steering aspect to them pitching about 15% -/+ if I remember correctly. Its a bit like the Iran Contra hearings, where I end up saying "I have no recollection of that" many times in an Oliver North monotone!

By the way, the Carver/Phiaros eternity is a beautiful rendition of the Carver design. But of course, not being mass-produced it fails to address the needs of the huge number of drivers who would benefit from such a class of vehicle and alleviate road congestion and carbon emissions.

[Keldros]

Hey Tim,
Thanks for the great info and insight on the Carver end of things. Just joined the board here myself, and it answered a few questions I had.

For those boggled by the issue of the pricing for the Carver, here's my take on it (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this). Tim said in his first email that "The team that put the Carver together were engineers and designers, without commercial or marketing help or direction." This is part of why he was brought on board, to handle that end of things which they probably had little or no experience in themselves.

From my own experience dealing with friends who are engineers and various other artisans in different fields, I can safely say that they are brilliant in their chosen expertise. However, few if any of them has a head for marketing or commercial value and application for much of what they create. While they can grasp the significance of what they make and see its available potentials, they have little clue as to how to get that out to the public or harness that potential on a commercial level. Many times they also have little desire to pursue such in depth as it then takes them away from their true passion, which is designing, engineering, or creating the improvements on their creation or going off to create something completely new.

I suspect this may have been a part of what Tim was up against when he tried getting them to move the Carver toward a better price point. Also his idea of a hatchback Carver which they didn't seem to take seriously; engineers and designers can sometimes be very sensitive about their creations, and they can sometimes get defensive about their designs without consciously being aware of it. Suggestions of possible improvements or design changes can often put such designers on the defensive.

That desire to defend their creation may also be part of what has kept them from more aggressively seeking backing to be able to mass produce at a better price point, too. As long as they have the reins on all aspects of the production, they can keep things the way they want them to be with the vehicle and its construction. But to get the backing to be able to produce them in greater quantities, most investors will want some say in this process, too, to ensure their money produces a good return. That usually means concessions on some level.

These are just my own observations and opinions, of course. But I've seen this kind of thing occur more than a few times with friends and companies I've worked for in the past. I just sincerely hope that VV doesn't happen into the same pitfalls, but thus far they seem to be taking a balanced aspect in things.

[waboom]

Hey Tim,

A few more questions, if you'll entertain them:
1) What is the turning radius of the Carver?
2) How far can you turn the steering wheel? (Approx. # of turns lock to lock)
3) How did Carver handle the expectation of a flat tire? Did they use run-flat tires, stick a "spare tire in a can" under the passenger seat, or something else (or nothing at all?)

[shooter]

As owner of Carver vin number xxxxxxx71 I can answer a few questions about the current version that is available. I placed my Order in June 2005 and it was delivered this April. There were a number of glitches alonmg the way that delayed production and delivery along the way (not just for mine).

The side intakes on the early prototypes were only on one side as they were only needed on one side. However, they have been added to the other side for aesthetic reasons as far as I can tell. The sport and comfort mode now available for the DVC system means that if you do come to a quick stop whilst tilted and using the sport mode, it does pop up quite quickly and you can bash your head!

One dissapointing thing, the indicators showing the amount of tilt are not visible due to the placement at the top of the instrument cluster, making them obscured by the steering wheel. The wheel is fixed, there is no adjustment of any kind that would allow the indicators to be seen (if you are very short you will probably be able to see them).

A few minor glitches as well with the quality control which on a mainstream vehicle costing over $70,000 one wouldn't put up with but the fun of the Carver means you don't worry too much about it. The same could be said of my Aero 8 which is a $140,000 dollar vehicle made by hand for the most part and thus has a few niggles that you learn to live with.

The Carver comes with a can of foam for the tyres for if you get a puncture. I'm going to put Ride-On TPS in all the tyres. I use it on all my motorbikes and wouldn't be without it. Good stuff and easy to get in the USA. I tend to buy a few bottles each time I visit the US.

If anyone has specific questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

[Derwin]

Shooter....WELCOME to the club!

I am thrilled that you decided to join, and we finally have an actual OWNER of the Carver within our ranks! I am sure you are watching the Venture Vehicle project very closely. This is going to be an incredible machine when they finally release it.

Well, I'm sure our members will be inundating you with many technical questions. So I hope your prepared! Thanks again for joining.

Derwin

[shooter]

Here are a couple of pictures of it.

[RAN]

Wow, a Carver and a Morgan! So far, it looks like you've got the most toys =y:

Welcome to the club shooter!

[waboom]

Shooter, thanks for sharing with us! Thanks also for answering the question about handling flats; I'm guessing VentureVehicles will be doing something similar.

One dissapointing thing, the indicators showing the amount of tilt are not visible due to the placement at the top of the instrument cluster, making them obscured by the steering wheel. The wheel is fixed, there is no adjustment of any kind that would allow the indicators to be seen (if you are very short you will probably be able to see them).

I guess that means this steering wheel isn't an option from Carver directly? The video is from Potenza, the Spanish distributor for Carver:
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[Mike kZ]

Here are a couple of pictures of it.

Shooter, did you flat black the whole auto, or did it come that way?

[smoove7410]

The carver looks sick in flat black. Thanks for the pics.

[shooter]

Wow, a Carver and a Morgan! So far, it looks like you've got the most toys =y:

Welcome to the club shooter!

Hi there, lot's of toys, 2 Morgan's in fact plus a handful of bikes, one of which I kept in Phoenix for 5 years. It's currently over here but I may well be shipping it back to phoenix sometime so I have a ride there. Long story but I sold it to a guy in Germany, he shipped it to Germany then decided he didn't like it so I went and got it back. In the meantime I've bought a Suzuki V-strom which is currently in Missouri to have as a US ride.

[shooter]

[quote=waboom;5201]
I guess that means this steering wheel isn't an option from Carver directly? quote]

One of the Carver people in Holland suggested this type of wheel to me when I mentioned it to him. What he forgot though is that when that type of wheel is turned, the solid part of the wheel will still be obscuring the LED's which only light up when tilting. Of course, can see them unlit with this type of wheel.

[shooter]

Shooter, did you flat black the whole auto, or did it come that way?

Mike, I ordered it that way back in June 2006. I think I may have been responsible for the various tubes and shafts being blacked out now as I asked if they would paint them black rather than the stock silver. They did and charged me extra but on all models being built now, they come black as standard and silver is a cost option instead.

You may have seen the chopper in flat black in the picture. i have the first 100th anniversary Morgan Aero 8 being produced in 2009 and I'm getting that in flat black as well (black is the new black :LOL:)

[waboom]

I guess that means this steering wheel isn't an option from Carver directly?

One of the Carver people in Holland suggested this type of wheel to me when I mentioned it to him. What he forgot though is that when that type of wheel is turned, the solid part of the wheel will still be obscuring the LED's which only light up when tilting. Of course, can see them unlit with this type of wheel.

Ergh, my bad. Different design, but doesn't solve the original problem.

Did Carver end up putting any controls on the wheel besides the horn? Also, it looks like the wheel only does one turn lock-to-lock. True?

[rogwild]

That front 'steering arm' looks like it is almost on the ground in the 'right tilt' maintenance position. How much ground clearance do you have in a 'full right tilt' when driving and make a max tilt turn?

[shooter]

Waboom, can't remember, will come back to you on the turns needed for lock to lock. Only the horn on the wheel, usual stick controls behind it for wipers, turn signals, lights etc.

Rogwild, clearance is about quarter inch! It goes that low on roundabouts and tight curves at speed. Had a great day out today down in Wiltshire and Somerset on little back roads. I tend to be taking the twisty roads a lot quicker in the Carver than on the bikes.

[MVRacing]

Shooter,
Had a question on the official site about how the tilt technology acts when you get the Carver into a drift? Have you had the opportunity to get yours to break lose?
Thanks

[shooter]

I've had the back go a couple of times and the back and the front go in the wet. All on roundabouts, not deliberately but just through going a bit too quick.

All I've done then is back off the throttle a little and it seems to correct itself.

[rogwild]

'shooter'; did you ever answer the question about how many degrees (or revolutions) the steering wheel turns >right or <left (stop-to-stop)? And perhaps a guess at how much (degrees) the front wheel deflects right-left in the upright position.

[Tim Hodgetts]

Shooter,

Your flat black Carver is gorgeous, it really has a menacing look that is so different to the high gloss models. I remember Chris Vandenbrink, one of the owners of Carver and co-designers having the first such one and it was great. It looked like a military prototype or an Area 51 escapee!

I often thought the tilt indicators would be well placed on the front window columns, one either side. But then I was the idiot who thought they should mass produce them, so what do I know?