#Gryphon Gear (AUS) and Genua-Beneventi Fabbrica s.p.a (ITA) make a joint debut at Goodwood 2017
Not long after Strop and Kai returned from their hastily scheduled holiday, was it time for another overseas stint. This time, one that was planned somewhat more in advance: the time to unveil a project crucial to the Gryphon Gear team: not just a tune, but the development of a multi-trim production line of the gorgeous but little known GBF Procurro (designed by @Rk38).
The Procurro SR6 started life as a Lotus wannabe of sorts, a low-cost, lightweight MR coupe designed for sporting fun. But its body was something else entirely, and the wild styling caught Strop’s eye, but the company was so obscure that he couldn’t find out who built it. It wasn’t until a chance meeting early in 2017 while testing another car ahem incognito ahem through some European circuits that he saw it in person and from there the rest was history.
I’ll leave telling the bulk of story about what happened to the Procurro to Rk38. The first thing that the GG team wanted to do, as they always did with any car they acquired, was to see a) how large an engine they could fit in it and b) how fast they could make it go. Their first problem was that they had to do it from where they were, in Europe, because shipping this car to Australia would take several weeks, and they were looking to submit a candidate for a tasty design brief that had just surfaced. More to the point, they were hoping to go ham on it, but the brief specifically stated that the car had to use commonly sourced* parts and be built on a rather small budget. The stars aligned, and this was an opportunity not only to subvert the course of the narrative, but also to demonstrate GG’s ever growing versatility.
Thus was engendered the balls out ‘full Strop’ version of what once was the Procurro: the Bellua “GG Tune” Competizione.
This photoshop and the following in this post by Rk38, I bow to the master
Sporting a 9L V8 with a single overhead cam (less top-heavy), then cooked somewhat fierce and flanked by giant twin-snails, the new engine was capable of up to a forge-straining 1500bhp. Needless to say with the weight ballooning out to about 1600kg, this changed the dynamics from “Lotus” more akin to “Topfuel Dragster”, but the gearheads at GG were used to dealing with this day in and day out and managed to tune the parts to make the car handle semi-decently.
All this on a build budget of 22k. The original project codename was “Bumblebee”, but upon learning the details of the rocket that he was to pilot, Kai called it “Mac’n’Cheese” instead. And given the naming scheme proposed by GBF, “Mac’n’Cheese Beest”. The name stuck. More so than the rear wheels, anyway.
Budgeting constraints meant there was no time or money to develop a launch control for this trim. Which means that the only people who can launch it without either stalling or driving directly into the nearest wall/pole/hay bale are professional race drivers and drag racers. Once it does get going however, it has the full array of driving aids to keep it on the very narrow driveway of the Goodwood Estate. Which is a good thing, because hay bales will only do so much at speeds of 170mph.
Ultimately, we don’t expect this to be the fastest car up the hill today. But considering the budget puts this and its ilk well within reach of one who might consider buying, for example, a pony car, we consider this a job well done.
Or rather, we invite you to take a look at the GBF exhibition for more information on a trim that might suit your fancy. GG also brought their own prototype (of a car that is decidedly not pitched at the common person) to the festival… and while it’s in working order it’s still about a year away from completion, yet with all these crazy cars and GG’s natural competitiveness… we may be tempted to run it anyway 
*this means that with the exception of safety, NO tech sliders were used on the car whatsoever.