Gulf GT40 Smart Car

Mathew R Hall BA Hons (Sand)……… Honest…

Research Engineer for a medical device manufacturer based in Reading.

Bought Smart as a cheap and funky run-around after my 2.3 Audi 90… (How wrong was I????)

Other cars in my collection:

1965 Series 11a 88" Land Rover.

Previous cars owned, Audi 90 2.3, Vauxhall Astra 1.8SXi, VW Polo…

Background to the Gulf Smart.

I bought my Smart in the May of 2001; it was one of the limited edition Mk5 Pulse SEs in Bay gray. It wasn’t long before modifications were being made, first off, it was the GB air scoop, soon after came a Smart tune dump-valve and a Turbo boost gauge. At that point, I was happy with my shiny modified smart, little did I know what was about to happen? [pay]

In the summer of 2001, I made the fateful mistake of going to a smart meet. My nearest convenient meet was Fleet, which became the home to the S2 crew. This was a gathering of like-minded individuals with the intentions of making the smart even better. It was there that I met people like Steve Forster, Ian of BIG Performance, Will Bartlam (the original Smart-arse) and so many more to mention. It was these guys who gave me the incentive to make something special out of my humble smart car.

The ball started to roll, first it was the wide wheels, then came the sports exhaust, 6 pot callipers followed the Brabus suspension kit and the S2 remap… Now the car had the speed, the handling and the braking, all it needed now was a new look…. The Gulf Smart was born…

The idea of the Gulf panels came to me about 2 years ago. I mentioned it to a few people at the Fleet meet who thought the idea was good but weren’t sure if it would work. A few sketches later and the final colour scheme was complete.

The idea had stemmed from my passion of GT cars built in the late 60s and early 70s. Cars that battled on the race circuits of Europe such as the Ferrari 512s, 312s, Porsche 908/3 and 917s were and still are my favourites. The cars that always caught my eye were those sponsored by Gulf Oil, these being the Ford GT40 and the Porsche 917 plus a few more I suspect.

The number 7 was chosen because when I was researching the colour scheme, I could only find pictures of a Gulf GT40 with number 8 and number 6, so in order to fill the gap, 7 was chosen…

Since putting on the Gulf panels, not much has changed on the car. It’s still a bit of a head turner even though it’s been around for nearly 18 months, but I have to say, every time I walk away, I still have to look back with a smile… Something I have never done with any other car…

Spec of ‘The Gulf Smart’

MCC Smart Mk5 Pulse SE

Reg:

Friday 18th May 2001 Y602 UGN (Now S2 6ULF)

Colour:

Originally Bay gray,

Now, Gulf Blau over Gulf orange, both colours manufactured by Porsche

Interior:

Blue with grey plasticky bits.

Mechanical Mods:

• Graham Baker (GB) Scoop… Later replaced with S-mann.

• De-lipped air intake.

• K&N air filter

• Smart Tune Dump valve, now sold on.

• BIG Performance exhaust (Loud option).

• Brabus fully uprated suspension kit.

• Mk6 replacement Turbo and manifold

• Big Performance 6 pot callipers using standard disks as they work better when they are hot.

• Braided Brake hoses.

• S2 Remap, of undisclosed origins, all I’ll say is that it’s quick…

• Switchable Trust.

• Smart-shift paddle gear change.

• Oil cooler, own sourced components.

• Under car scoop for engine bay cooling

Visual mods:

• Brabus front spoiler.

• S-mann side skirts.

• Modified Brabus side pods with front mud flaps.

• Different headlight bulbs, the type that give a hint of blue.

• Meshed front grills.

• Tinted Windows by Gatwick autoshades.

• Chrome indicators.

• Gulf Panels.

• Silver door mirrors replaced original black.

• Vertical wipers. 21" nearside, 19" offside to prevent wiper collisions at speed.

• Windscreen heavily rain xed… to prevent use of wipers at speed…

Wheels:

• Brabus Mono V.

Tyres:

• Front: Bridgestone potenzas RE720 195/50/15.

• Rear: Bridgestone Potenza S-03 pole position 195/50/15.

Interior:

• TIM Boost gauge with modified S2 face to read to 1.8 Bar.

• Aluminium dash kit Supplied by Mr Forster.

• Aluminium Gear knob, handbrake and pedal set from Bonalume in Italy… Picked up personally on a tour of Europe last year.

• 3rd pod housing a digital compass

• Alloy footrest.

• Momo Shoulder protection.

• Garmin GPS navigation.

I.C.E.

Standard. The music to my ears is the exhaust note at 4000 rpm; windows wide open driving down any one of Berkshires fantastic B roads. Nuff said.

Others:

Registration plate S2 6ULF

Gulf stickers supplied by Gulf Oil UK.

Roundels, Number 7s and other stickers supplied by Paul Murphy.

Some kind of device that keeps my car safe…

Bike carrier

First Aid kit

Allen key

Pavarotti tape (for those moments when it’s too cold to have the window open)

Duster

Mer polish

KFC wipe

Legal number plate for the front… just in case.

Performance:

Good enough. I have seen 119 on the track (M4) officer…

0-62 relative… but surprises a few…

Braking:

Awesome.

Car was purchased from Smart Chiswick, serviced by Smart Brentford…. Modified by me with a little help from Top1, Sasha and BIG Performance. [/pay]

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