I was instructing at our annual Autocross school today, and had a pleasant surprise when Graham Early, of Earleymotorsports.com, showed up with his recently completed Leitch Super Sprint 7-replica. So I did what any of us would do, and pulled a few strings to get the chance to be Graham's instructor!
That gave me a perfect excuse to scrutinize every bit on his car for the tech inspection....and I snapped a bunch of pictures too.
The craftsmanship of the car is increadible, the aluminum and fiberglass body is very well fabricated, and the construction of the chassis and front suspension is first-class.
Graham chose a Toyota Corolla GTS donor, and the immaculate attention to detail on the outside is carried over to the engine.
Of course, as his instructor, I had to ride along and *coach* Graham on his first few runs.
Had Graham not told me - or if I hadn't noticed the 1.4-miles on the odometer - I would not have know this was the "shakedown" run for his car. There were no mechanical problems, the car seemed very easy for Graham to drive, and not so much as a squeak or rattle from the chassis - even after 6 runs through the course!
Honestly, I need to thank Graham for letting me ride along(he really didn't need much coaching, he's a darn good driver as it is), and I hope to take him up on his offer of letting me behind the wheel someday after he gets a few miles on the car. I'll be sure to post back afterwards!
More info can be found on Graham's website: www.earleymotorsports.com
And the sidewalls were so stiff, that he was down to ~20psi on all 4-corners and still wasn't able to get the outer edge of his tread on the pavement. His car will be lethal with either DOT-R's or true racing slicks! 