California man makes manual tranny sports car accessible again

By LARRY EDSALL

AutoWeek | Published 01/23/07, 11:39 am et

Daniel Reyes wasn’t about to accept what the occupational therapist was telling him: that after losing his right leg, he never again would drive a car with a manual transmission.

Reyes lost his leg in a crash, though he wasn’t driving, and he wasn’t a passenger, either. He was just standing there on the sidewalk that day in 1999, when a driver lost control and hit him with such an impact that it cost Reyes his leg.

But Reyes was so determined to drive sports cars again that three years later, he bought a 1967 Ferrari 330 GT at the Christie’s auction on the Monterey Peninsula. “I was going to figure it out,” Reyes vowed, even as his fiancée drove the car home from the auction.

Two years ago, Reyes was in Italy, searching for parts for his Ferrari, when he discovered Guido Simplex Technology, an Italian company that develops equipment so those with disabilities can continue to drive cars with manual clutches and shifters. Reyes returned home to Santa Monica, California, established RediAuto Sport and became the exclusive U.S. distributor for the Total Hands Driving System.

His company has equipped various cars for disabled drivers—including race cars and manual Jeeps and other off-road vehicles—with controls that allow the accelerator, brake and clutch to be operated by hand rather than foot.

However, Reyes didn’t anticipate calls from another kind of customer: able-bodied people who have never learned how to drive a stick—and who have no intention of learning—but who have bought the new Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang, which comes with a six-speed manual transmission only.

Reyes isn’t quite sure what to make of such customers—though he’s scheduling their cars for service. And he does encourage calls from older drivers suffering from arthritis and other ailments that affect the use of their legs but who still want to drive sports cars with manual gearboxes.

Reyes says it usually costs about $1,200 to install the typical hand controls for the accelerator and brakes on a car with an automatic transmission. But the mechanism that allows for hand control of the clutch runs $5,000, and to fully equip a manual car for complete hand control costs about $10,000.

You may wonder why the system is so expensive, or how someone with two hands can operate controls that normally require two feet and two hands. Reyes explains that the system adds a link between the clutch and brake controllers that coordinates the clutch as the brake is released to provide smooth—and fast—acceleration. The system also works well on hills and in stop-and-go traffic, he says.

Reyes says those with disabilities can continue to drive just as skillfully, and as quickly, as ever. To prove that point, he’s in negotiations to stage a major autocross event in Southern California next spring that will put able-bodied and disabled drivers around the same circuit.

There’s no word yet on whether those Mustang owners will be invited—or whether they’ll get to compete as able or disabled drivers.
Larry Edsall



On the track with RediAuto Sport

RediAuto Sport will host the RediAuto Track Challenge, an autocross racing event for people with disabilities, on April 12 at the Irwindale Speedway near Los Angeles.
In addition to the auto-cross races, the event also will feature more than 100 vendors of products and services specifically for people with disabilities.

“In addition to being fun and entertaining for the whole family, this event is designed to be a forum for the disabled community to learn about the many
options they have to continue normal livelihood with the joys of independence, despite living with a disability that inhibits mobility,” said Daniel Reyes, the founder of RediAuto Sport.

RediAuto Sport is seeking both disabled and able-bodied drivers to participate in the RediAuto Track Challenge. All competitors will need to supply their own cars for the race. Race participants will have the opportunity to win a NASCAR test drive, a RediAuto Sport Soft Touch System, Long Beach Grand Prix packages and other sponsor prizes.

As an official sponsor of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 13-15, RediAuto Sport is also searching for two disabled veterans (one male and one female) to drive a RediAuto Sport-outfitted Toyota as one of the pace cars for the grand prix.