Airbus technology takes supercar firm Invicta to another level

A company which hand-builds supercars for the world's richest people is tapping into the expertise and technology at Airbus's composite research centre in Filton.

Invicta, which is based in Chippenham, makes just a handful of the £275,000 elite cars a year and the small company is a world leader in its field.

Now the firm has joined forces with Airbus on a project which aims to improve the way its supercars are built.

At the moment, the Invictas are made up of a five-litre engine, gearbox and a steel chassis encased in a single composite carbon body.

Last week the latest car to come off the production line was taken to the airbus plant at Filton where it was scanned by lasers with the aim of creating a digital 3D map of the car.

It is hoped this will be used to improve the design of the car and take production to the next stage with the creation of light-weight frame made of carbon. The composite material is used to make the wings for both Airbus planes and the Invicta because of its strength and lightness.

Businessman Michael Bristow set up the company after falling in love with the Invicta 1930s racing car. He bought the rights to the Invicta name in the 1980s and spent years setting up the firm which started trading in he spring of 2001.

He said: "I wanted to make a 21st-century version of the Invicta rather than a repeat of what has gone before. This is a very, very exclusive car and we build every one to exact specifications.

"One of our customers wanted to put a baby seat in the back so we did a four-seater version and we can do right and left-hand drives."

Mr Bristow employs six craftsmen and engineers at his workshops and each is a world leader in their field.

The boss of the firm said: "We make world-class cars and to be able to do that we have to employ world-class people. Like every other business, we have been affected by the downturn but there is still a demand for what we do. Our customers age from 30 to 80 and there is no common denominator."

David Phipps, who is the head of the composite centre at Airbus, said: "Partnerships like this give everybody involved a chance to share information. We have already worked with companies in other sectors such as wind and marine technology."

Bristol is the first of a small number of specialised centres around the UK, and all drawn together through the Government, industry and academia and known collectively as the National Composite Network (NCN).