Carvers Tilting Technology: no success

Sometimes something is a doubt: Is it classic or maybe it will be? Is it then a car or a motorcycle? Or a thing test. We now live in strange times. But Brink Dynamics' Carver Tilting Vehicle Designs were also strange.

A chance meeting at Zandvoort

I was at Zandvoort - you don't hear much of that anymore - to try with some people with American V8 classics how bad the handling of those bins were under combat conditions. After decades of enjoying car chases in American movies, it was time for that. And thanks to a friend we were allowed to hit the track in Zandvoort. A network is also important in classic car circles.

'Burning rubber'

The handling and cornering of a 1967 Buick LeSabre and an Oldsmobile 98 are indeed senselessly bad. An ex-police Dodge fared better. We burned a few sets of tires and a lot of gasoline. And the blocks and transmissions reached various boiling points.

Then we went to the VIProom where a famous Dutchman was tipping over vodkats. “He almost lives here. There are bets that he will drive himself or someone else to death, ”said our relationship concerned. That also happened a little later.

Party crashing at Carver

The VIP room was nicely filled with journals. It turned out that we were partying on the introduction day of 'Van den Brinks', later just 'Brink's', Carvers. We hooked in a swirl. That's how we came into contact with the Tilting Vehicle Concept. And that left us with great memories and a professional-looking presentation folder. I came across it last night while doing some tidying up.

'Should Conquer the World'

Carver specialized in the production of narrow three-wheel vehicles, equipped with a tilting system, the Dynamic Vehicle Control system, or DVC for short. The DVC system ensures that a narrow vehicle automatically tilts around corners, which prevents the vehicle from falling over if it makes a turn too fast. Useful!

Also read: Corda. From Sweden ... and Germany

The first prototype of the Carver One was made in 1994. In the meantime, the DVC technology has been further developed under the internationally renowned name 'Brink Dynamics'. In 1995 the DVC system was internationally patented. From 2003, the Carver was factory-built in a limited edition of a few dozen vehicles per year. The vehicle gained international fame through the media at the time, including Top Gear. From 2006 the Carver One was made in larger numbers. The company was split into Carver Europe BV for production and Carver Engineering, which was engaged in technological development. For production, Carver teamed up with Prodrive, a British company specializing in motorsport and vehicle technology.

Just for sale

Delivery of the first Carver One's began in 2007. In June 2009, Carver filed for bankruptcy because of production problems; the delivery of the engines in particular had come to a standstill. Production and sales continued on a small scale under license in Germany. The patents and the Carver Engineering company have been kept out of bankruptcy. Before that, 250 Carver Ones were built. After various restarts, restarts and other triple jump, the Carvers would eventually become electric.

Never seen again

But after that day at Zandvoort we never saw one again. The idea of ​​conquering the world with a revolutionary transport concept was a bit too ambitious. Are Carvers youngest timers? Are they exotics? Are they going to be classics? That remains unclear today. You just have to tinker with a thing on four wheels that does not go out in corners with exuberant hanging work.

The Buick is no longer there. But the 1976 folder is cherished.