New member here..

[DET]

Hello everyone.. I have been looking at this great site for quite some time now and finally decided to take the plunge into my first post. After many years of pricing out a Hawk or Corse for import into the U.S., I have found one which is already here. Before I go to take a look at it (an unbuilt 2004 Napiersport? Corse), I had a few questions which I hope can be answered.
The first is regarding the wheels. From what I have read so far it does not seem possible to use the beautiful Hawk coffin style wheels on a Corse. I do love the look of the original coffins and I think that is mostly because of the width of the wheel and how far sunk in the face of the wheel hub is from the lip. I like the Image wheels as well, but do not know if they will fit a Corse of the 2004 vintage. If that option fails, I would be willing to have wheels constructed for me, but would prefer to have them appear as identical to the original coffin spokes as possible. How deep of a wheel can one achieve with the Corse? Is there a dimension from the edge of fender to face of the axle hub which someone can tell me? If these dimensions will not support such a wheel, can any suspension or axle mods be done?
The second question is in regards to the origins of the car than anything else. There can't have been many Corses imported to the U.S., and I was guessing someone may know of this particluar car.

Thanks much. I will look forward to hearing back..

[strat6v]

You could contact Lionel Gooch at Napiersport who, i'm sure would be happy to help out with the history of the chassis you have in mind.

On the wheel front, the nearest you can get to the look of the original type wheel are the ones from image. they were fitted on the olio fiat example previously owned by Mick 'Catswhiskers' Worral.

[John]

It would be in your best interests to contact Napiersport about this chassis.
It's a long story, but I can tell you that it is not a 2004 chassis and should not be passed off as such.
I t was imported to the US by a gentleman up Minneapolis way who intended to carry out some very radical modifications to it and it was sent by Napiersport on that basis, not as a representation of the current product.

[mogul_x]

DET,

The Corse you are talking about is the only one in the US that I'm aware of, and is likely the first imported here. As John D. said, it's not representative of Napiersport's current product - and from everything I've heard about it (from speaking at length with both the original and current owners), will require more work than usual to put together.

The Image wheels that John H. mentioned are modular, and can be built to any offset to suit either the Hawk or the Corse. They look good, and the centers have the right spoke shape. In my opinion, they look best on a Stradale, or on the front of a Gp.4 car, because the offset and depth of the center are close to an 8" Hawk coffin spoke. They look fine on the rear, too, although obviously don't match the 12" wheels exactly (Wrong offset on a corse, flatter center than the one-piece Hawk coffin spoke wheel).

I'll second (or third!) both Johns' suggestion to talk to Napiersport. If you want another opinion from someone a little more local, feel free to contact me. I'll send you a PM with my phone numbers, if you prefer to talk live.

(edit) After taking a look at your profile here on the forum, I believe we may already have spoken.:o The name listed is very similar to that on an e-mail I received about a year ago.

[DET]

Yes we did speak, and your comments were very helpful regarding the Hawk. I should have guessed that you may know something about this one as well, even though its a corse. On hearing everyone's advice I will contact Napiersport directly - thanks everyone. Mogul X, is it ok if I send you an email regarding the Corse? Thanks.

[mogul_x]

Absolutely! :)

[John]

You can copy me in on that too if you wish. I am actually part of the Napiersport operation, but I'm cautious about using the forum to promote the company. If you read my posts though it will not be too difficult to see where my allegiance lies!
I just love all Stratos, real or replica.
Scott is of course correct when he says there has only been one Corse imported to the States, but it is hoped that there will soon be an agency based with Tom Mc. at Manik Technologies.