GAW (Grayhill Auto Works)

[durk]

Lacking the inspiration to take my other car company anywhere interesting ATM, I decided to start up a new company with a different direction and a much more free-flowing format. The dates in the thread will be all over the place and chances are the backstory will be a mess that is constantly being updated and tweaked . Anyways, onto the company.

Grayhill Auto Works: Boudicca (Pre-Release)

As the 2016 model year approached, engine manufacturer, performance automotive parts manufacturer, and small time automobile manufacturer GAW prepared to unleash one of the most insane road cars the world had ever witnessed. Early examples had already found their way into the hands of car enthusiast media outlets, although said outlets had to agree to a review embargo of sorts. They were forbidden from sharing most details about the car. In fact, all they really could offer was a general opinion on the car.

"It's god awful"

"The GAW Boudicca easily takes the throne for the most bone-headed, brutal, crude sports car I've ever drove. It's like someone took a 1960s race car and plopped a modern supercar engine in it."

"I thought about poking the gas pedal on this thing while I was having breakfast this morning and it apparently spun out in its garage a few hundred miles away while it was turned off."

"This car is sadism in automobile form."

"It's like GAW tried to compete with Koenigsegg just by putting a beast of an engine into a chassis one of the employee's kids had been working on. I bet that kid is who came up with the idea to make the Boudicca as well. That's what this car is. It's the kind of bonkers death trap you dreamed about when you were 13, except it's nowhere near as glorious as you hoped it would be."

"When I tried to get this thing off the line it looked like the opening scene of Gymkhana 7."

"This thing would make a wonderful soap box car. It's really not that bad off throttle, but I nearly cried every time I had to give it even a touch of gas. Although now that I think about it, you could probably find a much better soap box car for the fraction of the price."

"This car is the kind of thing kids will worship decades from now just because of how insane it is. It's an absolute pile of crap for its price range and for several price ranges below it, but kids who weren't around when this thing hit the roads will go nuts for it. This is the perfect car for the next generation of internet armchair racers, and maybe that's what GAW is going for here. Then again, given their past, it's more likely they still haven't bothered to take their crazy pills."

"Go to GAW for some great engines, go to GAW if you want some pretty solid performance parts, BUT PLEASE DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM THESE PEOPLE. IF IT WASN'T FOR THEIR SUCCESSFUL ENGINES AND PARTS SALES THEY WOULD HAVE DIED LONG AGO."

GAW themselves refused to comment on the Boudicca outside of acknowledging that it will be available to the public in 2016.

[durk]

When 2016 arrived, the GAW Boudicca (Named after the queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the then occupying Roman Empire) was available for purchase and the review embargo expired. As reviewers who received a sneak peak at the car were able to give the full story and as a large number of journalists got to take their first look at the car, it became apparent that the Boudicca would mostly live up to its pre-release expectations.

As early opinions on the car had stated, the Boudicca was an absolute beast. As typical of GAW creations, the Boudicca was a rear wheel drive machine sporting no driver assists aside from power steering. Also standard of GAW cars, the Boudicca was equipped with a H-pattern manual gearbox and relied on a simple standard spring, gas mono-tube damper suspension configuration. This doesn't surprise anyone familiar with the GAW philosophy; however, this GAW machine sent north of 1000 horsepower generated by a 7 liter naturally aspirated V12 to the driven wheels. 1000+ horsepower. Rear wheel drive. No traction control. No launch control. The Boudicca also treads awfully close to failing to meet safety regulations in quite a few countries around the globe.

Good luck.

The Boudicca is an absolutely insane contraption, no doubt about that. Although some were wise enough to know it was only a matter of time before GAW cranked out something this ridiculous, many critics were shocked that they would try to sell something so unruly that only a professional race driver had a hope in hell of pushing to even half of its potential. If you want someone to learn throttle control, make them practice with a Boudicca for a while. The car loves to spin its wheels, and to top it all off the tires the car ships with from the factory are far from adequate for getting such a monster off the line. Despite the gobs of horsepower, the fastest anyone has ever managed to get a stock Boudicca from 0-62 was in 4.5 seconds. The same man who achieved the 4.5 second 0-62 managed to barely get the car under the 12 second mark on the quarter mile.

So, what about when the car stops spinning its wheels and you are up to speed? Well, as typical for GAW the car lacks any sort of downforce creating devices such as a splitter, wing, or diffuser. You are operating on pure mechanical grip when you drive a Boudicca. As if that wasn't frightening enough for a car this powerful, the Boudicca sports a semi-trailing arm rear suspension, which has been known to be unpredictable at higher speeds. But lets say that you can keep this thing under control, how does it tackle corners? It's nothing astonishing for the price, but apparently not as bad as you would think according to the few men who could manage to tame the Boudicca. When off throttle, the Boudicca is said to exhibit some quite strong understeer characteristics for a vehicle of its ilk. The moral of the story? Like one sneak peak reviewer said, this car has potential in a soap box event. An engine swap would probably do this car some good as well, just don't tell anyone at GAW that.

Speaking of the engine, the 7 liter in the Boudicca seems to be where most of the budget went. A 5 valve per cylinder, DOHC, direct injected monstrosity tuned by the best men at GAW is nothing to sneeze at. It's a hell of an engine, no doubt, and a few folks have expressed interest in purchasing it separate from the Boudicca chassis.

Although, unfortunately, we are talking about the Boudicca here, not just its engine. The man who spoke about the strong understeer characteristics of the car took it for a spin around the Automation Test Track and the Automation Airfield Track. Posting a 2:11.82 and a 1:18.77 respectively. Certainly not bad times, the issue is barely anyone can manage to keep it together with the Boudicca well enough to even dream about posting similar times.

So, you get it, the Boudicca is pretty much impossible to drive even remotely fast. Does it at least look good? Is it comfortable? Well, you should know better than to ask about how cozy a GAW car is. Open up the door and you get some bucket seats, a wheel, some gauges, some pedals, a 5 speed stick (Yes, a 5 speed. Not a 6. No one has a clue why GAW stuck a 5 speed in this car and they refuse to comment on it)...and that's about it. Cupholders? Nah. No glovebox either. No radio. No GPS. No sort of ports to run any electronics from. There aren't even any compartments located in the doors. Although the quality of what is there is a step up from what's usually inside of a GAW, you have to remember this is their halo car, as silly as it is.

As for the exterior, well, the front looks a bit alien/insect-esque with its odd headlight and indicator array. The whole car is an odd blend of weird rounder shapes combined with some in your face, side exhaust, vents for the sake of vents galore. Not the prettiest design, no doubt, but it's distinct. There are definitely some Dodge Viper vibes coming from the vehicle. I'd say that about sums it up. Just have a look for yourself. There are plenty of crude spec sheets with pictures being pushed out by GAW like this. Also note that the purple pictured is the only color the Boudicca is available in from the factory, but the customer could choose either a gloss or a matte finish.



One last little tid-bit about the Boudicca, perhaps its most redeeming quality. Plenty of critics, even ones that hate the vehicle with a passion, have remarked this vehicle has a certain charm to it. The absolute insanity and the complete disregard for appeal the vehicle exudes can't help but be appealing. This car is a middle finger on wheels, and many journalists can't help but at least dig that part of it. This car doesn't do much well, but what little it does do well is something to be appreciated. This is the kind of car that people will love to talk about more than it is the kind of car that people will love to drive, and for the few out there crazy and skilled enough to tame this beast it is one hell of a treat. This car, despite all of its faults, is the epitome of what GAW is, and their few diehard fans are no doubt in love with it.