Bullet (make of car)

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Bullet was an Australian automobile brand that was founded in 2002 by Advanced Engine Components Ltd. (AEC) at their Yatala, Queensland facility.

history

The first prototype was built in 1996 by John Bettini based on a Mazda MX-5 body. The chassis, a lattice frame made of square tubes, was contributed by Barry Pearson . A rotary engine from the Mazda RX-7 served as the drive . In the following two years a few more unique pieces were built, one of them with a V8 engine from a TVR that the customer contributed.

Bettini decided that a Lexus 4LT Quadcam was better for his vehicles, so four more Bullets with naturally aspirated engines were built and sold. Bettini approached Sprintex , a supplier of such engines to AEC, about the development of supercharged engines for the new model with a wide body, which was to be released in late 1999 .

AEC was so impressed with the new Bullet SS that they bought the manufacturer and built a new factory in Yatala, Queensland. AEC decided that the Bullet Roadster and Supercharged Bullet SS should in all cases comply with the Australian Design Rules (ADR) and invested in the new factory to achieve this goal in late December 2002. All Bullets built from 2003 onwards were fully series vehicles.

Production ended in 2010.

Models

The Roadster cost AU $ 98,000 and the SS AU $ 118,000. The 430 bhp (230 kW) engine accelerated the vehicle from 0-100 km / h in less than 5 seconds. The fully adjustable chassis with 18 × 9 "rims ensured good road holding and Brembo disc brakes gave the car good deceleration values.

The resale values ​​of the cars are high. In 2008, a well-preserved Wankel Bullet from 1998 brought in AU $ 27,500, a Roadster from AU $ 37,500 in 2000 and a supercharged SS from the pre-production series AU $ 62,000.

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