Australia’s Joss Supercar to enter production

Having heard little about the gorgeous Joss Supercar since its rumoured demise in 2006, it is refreshing to have come across the official Joss Developments website and learn that the game is still on.

According to Joss Developments, they are preparing to create an unlisted company and begin the development of a production car. This will entail a move to an as yet undisclosed location in Victoria and will also allow Joss Developments to finalize intitial customer deposits.

Matt Thomas the creator of the Joss Supercar, appears to have assembled a team with a wide range of experience, including Formula 1 racing and Lemans and it looks as though he intends to take the Joss Supercar racing.

“We have a vast amount of experience from many facets of the automotive industry, including Formula One, Lemans racing, auto production, manufacture and so on. Our belief is that a strong brand must be heavily involved in competition and this is why we are aiming our sights on GT racing as a spring board to the greatest race of all – Lemans! Currently we are in talks with an existing race team with a proven track record,” said Matt Thomas

The production car will be based on the test vehicle unveiled at the 2004 Melbourne Motor Show. Engine capacity is now up from 6.1 to 6.8-litres and in private testing the re-developed test vehicle has managed to break the 3.0 second 0-100km/h barrier with a reported run of 2.98 seconds. The Joss will top out at 320km/h.

The production engine is an Australian designed 6.8-litre (415 cubic inch), all-alloy, fuel injected V8 featuring dry sump lubrication. Output is a modest 350kW, while torque is a hefty 650Nm. The powerplant will be mated to a Porsche G50 5-speed transaxle.

The Joss’s chassis is constructed from a composite aluminium and honeycomb steel space frame. Braking is taken care of by six-pot Harrop calipers up front clamping 380mm discs, while the rear gets four-pot Harrops and 350mm discs.

All up kerb weight of the Joss Supercar, including fluids is only 940kg, making the performance claims believable. For the sake of this oh so beautiful looking car and because we like to see the underdog do good (especially an Australian one), lets hope that the Joss Developments story as their website suggests, has only just begun.

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www.joss.com.au