R-Ride Suspension, especially made by RPR for Classic Cars.

The suspension airbags are made by Firestone and work in conjunction with bespoke Koni dampers, with the electronic control calibration done in-house by RPR-Motors. The conversion costs just around 6T euros, which is relatively cheap when you consider the values of these cars today.

As the Pagoda has a relatively short wheelbase, even air suspension cannot give it the silky ride of a limousine. In fact as I drove it on the day, I felt that the ride was quite taut, albeit much better controlled than the factory steel spring set-up.

While the front suspension settings were spot on, my seat of the pants intuition told me that the rear end should be 10 to 15-percent softer on bounce mode for a more compliant ride as well as better traction on bumpy surfaces and in the wet. “We can quite easily adjust the air springs and Koni dampers over a wide range of bump and rebound settings to tailor the ride to a client’s preferences,” said Carsten.

Text: (Copyright by Dr. Ian Kuah)