TARD GT1-V8

*"The TARD GT1-V8 is the one limited edition supercar the world forgot about. With only about eighty in existence and the rest being replicas built by Advantage, this LeMans spec track slaying machine will definitely turn heads, especially with its "cute" front end, and wide rear end. Fortunately, some generous private collectors sourced ten for us, and you've decided to purchase one of eighty of them. Anyways, it was already difficult to convince Advantage to build us these replicas, but while you have one, enjoy it, because you deserve it."*

- Garage Description.

The **TARD GT1-V8** is a supercar appearing in *MotorStorm: Return to the Wild and MotorStorm: Transylvania Unleashed*

## Details

TARD wasn't only known to be a performance parts distributor, but as also known to convert certain vehicles in hyper-spec road slaying machines. With the upcoming 1993 24 hours of LeMans, TARD had acquired the licensing to build replicars of the Gyoza Potenzia Group S Rally car. However, four of the replicas would go under a radical conversion into something that couldn't even be recognized as a Gyoza vehicle. The result was the GT1-V8, which weighed in at nearly 1,050 kilograms, or 2,314 pounds.

When it came to the specs, a stomach-churning twin turbo 4.0L V8 was put in the place of the twin turbo 2.2L inline four. The power output of the Turbocharged engine was approximately 900 horsepower, over the default 750 horsepower the 2.2L Inline Four produced. Upon being tested at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the car managed to max out at the final straight at 200 miles per hour, while achieving an impressive time of 7:39:52, which had dwarfed any other supercar at the time. The car was not four wheel drive, but completely rear wheel drive, with a mid mounted engine configuration. The transmission was a six speed semi-automatic transmission, which could be changed from semi-automatic to fully automatic. However, the automatic transmission was not a standard automatic, but had an overdrive modification, so the tachometer could meet the ideal RPM to shift if it were in semi-auto mode.

However, seeing TARD wanted to enter the car in the 1993 24 Hours of LeMans, a new powertrain had to be developed, which was a bi-turbo 3.4L V8 that produced 560 brake horsepower, and 450 lb-ft of torque, while a special lightweight bodykit was developed to make the racing version weigh in at 2,146 pounds. The transmission found in the racing version was just a simple five speed manual, with the gearbox was from a 1981 Tenrai Xylem HF Super Aerosolomie, despite the entire gearbox was straight cut, which made the car's transmission produce a very distinctive whine alongside the sounds of the two turbochargers. It was also said that at lower RPMs, the smaller turbo would spin and then spool up the bigger turbocharger around 4th gear.

These modifications gave it the ability to race with factory backed GT1 race cars, such as the Cougar Mecum GT, the Monarch Pouter and the Tenrai Azure. However, the one out of the three examples of the car finished, finishing 20th place out of 40 positions.

In an event of time, about fifteen more GT1-V8s were produced, and sold at a retail price of $430,000 dollars, or 46,755,190 Yen, and could only be ordered directly from TARD, which would be hand built. The future owners of a GT1-V8 would have to wait at least six months until the car was completed, and the car was illegal in the U.S. seeing that the car did not feature a parking brake, and did not pass U.S. emissions standards at the time. Despite this, the car could be imported anywhere in the world, including Canada, South America, Australia, Africa and Asia.

In 2003, production of the GT1-V8 was ended, with only 80 examples of the road going car being produced. About ten were anonymously acquired, and then sold to the MotorStormers.

## Trivia

* The general vehicle's shape is based upon the SARD MC8, which is a heavily modified LeMans spec of the 1993 Toyota MR2, while the headlights are inspired by the 1989 Mazda Miata and the taillights are inspired by the 1984 Ford RS200 Evolution.