The Hulme CanAm, known as Bear 1, is one of New Zealand’s most ambitious automotive creations and the only completed, driveable Hulme CanAm ever built.

The project began in 2002 when Auckland entrepreneur and engineer Jock Freemantle approached industrial designer Professor Tony Parker with the idea of creating a world-class supercar designed and built in New Zealand.

It was an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking. New Zealand had already produced some of the world’s greatest racing drivers, engineers and motorsport innovators, but Freemantle wanted to prove that the country also had the expertise to develop an internationally competitive supercar of its own.

The result was the Hulme.

A NAME WITH MOTORSPORT PEDIGREE

The car was named in honour of Denis “Denny” Hulme, one of New Zealand’s greatest racing drivers and the country’s only Formula One World Champion.

Hulme won the Formula One World Championship in 1967 driving for Brabham. He later joined fellow New Zealander Bruce McLaren and became one of the dominant drivers in the spectacular Canadian-American Challenge Cup, better known as Can-Am.

McLaren and Hulme became such a formidable combination that their dominance of the series became known as the “Bruce and Denny Show”. Hulme won the Can-Am championship in 1968 and again in 1970, driving the immensely powerful Chevrolet-engined McLarens for which the series became famous.

Denny’s widow, Greeta Hulme, supported the use of her husband’s name for the New Zealand supercar project.

His influence extended beyond the badge. The prototype was nicknamed Bear 1, a reference to Denny Hulme’s famous nickname, “The Bear”, while the open-cockpit CanAm design and Chevrolet V8 power also reflected his enormously successful Can-Am career.

FROM CONCEPT TO CANAM

The Hulme project first appeared as the closed-cockpit Hulme F1 Champion concept.

By 2004 the design had reached full-scale modelling, and the concept was subsequently displayed both in New Zealand and overseas. Early proposals differed considerably from the car that would eventually emerge, including plans for BMW V8 power and a closed GT-style body.

As development continued, the project evolved into something lighter, simpler and considerably more radical.

The closed cockpit disappeared and the BMW engine gave way to a large-capacity Chevrolet V8. The new open-top car became the Hulme CanAm.

Its vivid orange finish strengthened the connection with the McLaren competition cars associated with Denny Hulme’s racing career, with contemporary material referring to the colour as “Hulme Orange”.

The philosophy behind the car was equally uncompromising. Freemantle wanted to create something that provided the sensation and involvement of driving a racing car while still being capable of road use.

BEAR 1

The first and ultimately only completed driveable Hulme CanAm was Bear 1.

It made its public debut at the A1 Grand Prix meeting at Taupō in January 2009, where one of New Zealand’s other great international racing drivers, Chris Amon, took the new prototype onto the circuit.

Amon drove and demonstrated the car on track and spoke positively about its performance and handling.

It was a fitting debut. A New Zealand designed and built supercar named after Denny Hulme, conceived by Jock Freemantle, designed by Tony Parker and demonstrated by Chris Amon brought together an extraordinary collection of New Zealand automotive and motorsport connections in a single machine.

A RACING CAR FOR THE ROAD

At the heart of Bear 1 is a mid-mounted 7.0-litre Chevrolet LS7 naturally aspirated V8 producing approximately 600 horsepower, or 448 kW, and around 600 Nm of torque.

Power is sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed CIMA transaxle and limited-slip differential.

With a quoted weight of approximately 980 kg, the Hulme had an exceptional power-to-weight ratio. Projected performance figures included 0 to 100 km/h in under 3.5 seconds and a top speed exceeding 300 km/h.

These figures were development and production targets rather than independently verified maximum-performance tests of Bear 1, although contemporary reports stated that the prototype itself had reached 257 km/h on a racetrack.

The Hulme was deliberately conceived as an analogue driver’s car. Rather than relying heavily on electronic driver aids, it used race-inspired engineering to create a direct and involving driving experience.

The driver and passenger sit extremely low within the open cockpit, with the engine positioned longitudinally behind them. Double-wishbone suspension, pushrod-operated inboard dampers and substantial AP Racing brakes further demonstrate how closely the car’s design philosophy followed competition machinery.

Bear 1 also needs to be distinguished from the proposed production specification. Promotional material for future Hulme production cars described a carbon-composite chassis, while historical accounts of Bear 1 record that the prototype itself was constructed around a steel space-frame. The lightweight bodywork uses carbon-fibre and composite materials.

BUILT IN NEW ZEALAND

Although Jock Freemantle provided the vision and Tony Parker led the industrial design, the Hulme was the product of a much wider New Zealand effort.

Engineers, fabricators, designers, students and specialist companies contributed their knowledge and skills to the project.

Engineer Bruce Turnbull, already known for his involvement with New Zealand-built performance cars including the Saker, contributed to the development of the Hulme. Massey University was closely involved through Tony Parker, and students gained valuable practical experience working on aspects of the design, development and testing programme.

The engine also provided another remarkable link with New Zealand’s international motorsport history. New Zealand engine specialist John Nicholson, whose career had included preparing McLaren’s Chevrolet Can-Am engines and later its Formula One Cosworth DFVs, was involved with the Hulme’s engine.

For Freemantle, this wider New Zealand involvement was fundamental to the project. The Hulme was not intended merely as an exotic personal creation. He saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate New Zealand’s design, engineering, technology and specialist manufacturing capability to an international audience.

A REMARKABLE COMMITMENT

Building a supercar from scratch required enormous personal and financial commitment.

Freemantle devoted years of his life to the Hulme project. Historical accounts record that he even sold his own house to help fund its development during the early stages.

What had begun as an ambitious idea became a deeply personal pursuit.

Despite the challenges, Freemantle continued to promote and develop the Hulme for years, pursuing investors and opportunities that might allow the car to progress from a prototype into genuine production.

NEW ZEALAND DESIGN ON THE WORLD STAGE

The Hulme project attracted attention far beyond New Zealand.

The original Hulme F1 concept was exhibited internationally, including at Britain’s famous Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Top Marques show in Shanghai. The project attracted coverage from international motoring media and introduced overseas audiences to an unexpected proposition: a serious supercar emerging from New Zealand.

Bear 1 itself continued to attract attention after its 2009 debut and appeared in motoring media in New Zealand and overseas.

Tony Parker’s Hulme CanAm design also received recognition at the 2009 New Zealand BeST Design Awards in the concept and experimental category.

These appearances and accolades were important to Freemantle’s wider vision. The Hulme was intended to demonstrate that New Zealand expertise could compete in a field normally dominated by major European manufacturers with enormous resources behind them.

FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION, ALMOST

Bear 1 was never intended to be the end of the story.

Hulme Supercars planned to use the prototype as the foundation for an extremely limited production series. By 2010, plans had been announced for a run of just 20 Hulme CanAms, with a proposed price of £295,000 plus applicable taxes.

Potential customers were offered an unusually personal ownership experience, which was to include travel to New Zealand for final fitting and familiarisation with their car.

There were also reports that work had begun toward a second development and homologation vehicle.

But designing a prototype and establishing a production car company are very different challenges.

The cost of developing, certifying and manufacturing a road-going supercar was enormous. Hulme Supercars sought outside investment, including an attempt to raise the capital required to move into production, but sufficient funding could not be secured.

The proposed customer cars did not follow.

Bear 1 remained alone.

WHY THE HULME MATTERS

The Hulme CanAm represents far more than an attempt to build a fast car.

New Zealand has an extraordinary motorsport heritage. Bruce McLaren founded one of the most successful racing teams in history. Denny Hulme became Formula One World Champion. Chris Amon competed at the highest levels of international motorsport. Behind them were generations of New Zealand mechanics, engineers, designers and innovators whose abilities often carried them far beyond this country.

The Hulme project attempted to bring that same spirit of ingenuity together at home and create something exceptionally ambitious: a genuine, internationally marketable supercar designed and hand-built in New Zealand.

It drew on local engineering expertise, New Zealand design talent, specialist manufacturers and university involvement. It carried the name of a New Zealand World Champion and openly celebrated the country’s motor racing heritage.

Freemantle’s ambition went beyond producing a handful of exotic cars. He hoped the Hulme could help establish a sustainable, low-volume vehicle industry in New Zealand and showcase the country’s technology, innovation and manufacturing capability to the world.

That ambition was never fully realised, but Bear 1 survives as the physical embodiment of it.

It is not simply a prototype for a production car that never happened. It is evidence of a moment when a small New Zealand team attempted to take on the established supercar manufacturers of the world with a machine of its own.

THE ONE AND ONLY

Jock Freemantle continued pursuing the Hulme dream long after Bear 1 was completed.

Even after being diagnosed with cancer in 2013, he remained enthusiastic about the future of the project. As late as 2016 he was still discussing possibilities for further development.

Freemantle died on 23 December 2016.

By then, Bear 1 had become something even rarer than its creators originally intended.

The proposed production CanAms never followed. The earlier Hulme F1 remained a concept. Bear 1 remained the sole completed, driveable Hulme CanAm.

What began as an attempt to establish a New Zealand supercar manufacturer ultimately resulted in a unique artefact, preserving the vision, ambition, engineering talent and motorsport culture behind one of this country’s boldest automotive projects.

Today, the Hulme CanAm stands as a unique reminder of New Zealand’s ambition, innovation and remarkable contribution to automotive and motorsport history.

The Hulme Can-Am Supercar is on loan to Southward Car Museum from a Private NZ Collection for a limited time. Don’t miss your chance to see this extraordinary one-of-one piece of New Zealand motoring history up close.