The long-distance coupé
2+2 · rear-drive · automatic · new, our own range
For two people and their luggage, to the coast and back without wanting to stop.
“Quiet at a hundred, and it stays quiet. Bags for two in the back, not four.”
Slipline
Touring and performance cars at Thebarton, on the city’s west edge, chosen one at a time. Set one up in the tunnel, take it round the Hills, then come and drive the real one.Touring and performance cars at Thebarton, chosen one at a time. Set one up in the tunnel.
Drag the smoke anywhere in front of the car, or take hold of the car’s side or its wing. Raise the car and watch the air find the gap underneath. With the tunnel focused, the arrow keys move the wand and Space puffs smoke.
Drag —Downforce front — / rear —
Illustrative: worked out from the airflow on this page.
A small stock, each car driven before it’s bought.
Our own range
Touring and performance cars built to our own spec and sold new, with no badge on the nose. Each one is driven before it gets a bay, and there are never many in the hall.
Trade-ins we’d drive home
Nearly-new cars, chosen one at a time from what people bring us. We keep only what we’d happily drive home ourselves, and hand the rest back with a plain reason.
The long drive
A morning in the Hills, not a lap of the block. We sit in the passenger seat and say little. By the ridge you’ll know whether it’s your car.
What’s in the hall
Each car stands in its bay beside its line through our tunnel, lit from the floor. Then a bay for yours, and the door to the road. Keep scrolling and walk along.
The Hills hatch
five doors · front-drive · manual · new, our own range
A small, stiff car for the gullies, and sensible the rest of the week.
“Turns in before you’ve finished asking.”
The estate for the coast
five seats · all-wheel drive · automatic · nearly new, a trade-in we chose
Boards, dogs and a long weekend on the Fleurieu.
“Long roof, low floor, settles on a dirt road.”
Pick a check to see where we look.
What gets a bay
What we check
What we pass on
- Anything we wouldn’t drive home
Bring yours to Thebarton. We’ll drive it and tell you plainly whether it would get a bay.
The Hills loop
This is the road we’d take you on, near enough. Out from the west edge, up through the gullies, along the ridge and back down before lunch. Touring is how most people drive it. Sport firms the springs and wakes up the throttle. Neither makes the road any shorter.
At road speeds the wing adds only a few kilos of downforce; you’ll see it in the numbers. Ride height matters more: a taller car leans further on the same springs.
The coupé as it left us: standard height, wing at 6°.
12345
Soft springs and an easy throttle, the way most people drive it.
- Speed
- — km/h
- Sideways
- — g
- Roll
- —°
- Pitch
- —°
The wing holds the tail down with a few kilos at this speed.
How a long drive goes
The Hills loop, straightened out. Left to right is the road from our door and back; up the page is which way the car is pointing. Lefts climb, rights fall, and by the time you’re back at Thebarton it has turned one full circle.
Ask about a car
Tell us which, or what it’s for.
We book a morning
The car is fuelled and warm when you arrive.
You drive, we say little
The Hills road, as long as you like.
You take a day to think
We don’t ring you the next morning.
Drawn for this page from the same road as the drive above. The numbers are its bends.
The handover
It happens at the end of the hall, at a table, under one light. Nobody is waiting for the bay. We walk round the car with you once, slowly. You sit in it and find the controls yourself; we answer when you ask. Then a short drive together, the way you’ll drive it most. The first service is booked before you leave, and the paperwork is done at the table while the car waits.
Setup sheetas the car left us
Set a car up in the tunnel and this sheet fills itself in.
- Car
- The long-distance coupé
- Ride height
- standard
- Rear wing
- 6°
- Drag
- —
- Downforce front / rear illustrative
- — / —
- Your line
- not kept yet
- Touring or Sport
- Touring
- Your hardest bend
- —
- A walk round
- The controls in your own time
- A short drive together
- The first service booked
- The paperwork at the table
Take the long way home. It’s what it’s for.
Book a long drive
Tell us which car, or what you need one for, and when suits. We’ll come back to you with a morning.