Faster than Lightning

New Zealander Jock Freemantle’s $1 million Hulme CanAm supercar, named after racing driver and 1967 Formula One world champion Denis “Denny” Hulme, is, writes Britain’s Times Online, “a machine with the power to rival the fastest Ferrari, but which carries less weight than the lightest Ford Fiesta. It has a power-to-weight ratio that would make a Bugatti Veyron blush, and a look that exudes pure, undiluted menace. Best of all, it should be on sale here next  year.” Currently touring New Zealand to accrue capital for production of the vehicle, Freemantle said: “In Jeddah we had a son of the King of Saudi Arabia try to give us $1 million to take it straight away. But we didn’t even have an engine in it at that stage.” Freemantle is convinced it can realise his dream of establishing New Zealand as a producer of top-quality cars. For after all – as he points out – “We have more individuals per head of population working in motor sport than any other country in the world.” If his plans come to fruition, he will start to build the CanAm in tiny numbers (probably no more than 30 a year), early in 2010.