In 1985 de Joux bought the remains of a 1964 Formula One BRP chassis and damaged V8 BRM engine, and over the phone to England, a BRM transaxle.
With the switch from a senior compact to an intermediate-sized platform, most of these "innovative" features were discontinued such as the Tempest's four-cylinder engine and transaxle, the aluminum block V8 (whose tooling was sold to Rover of England who improved the design enjoying considerable success with it as the Rover V8 in models such as the Rover P5B and Range Rover) and the Olds Jetfire's turbocharged version of that V8.
The tractors were to be made of components from various sources, including Nateco (National Equipment Company of Texas) tractor base, a Continental Motors Company engine, and a Timken Company transaxle assembly.
Further contributing to the weight advantage was the adoption of lightweight sequential manual transmission originally developed for Lotus 12 by Richard Ansdale and Harry Mundy incorporating the unique sequential-shifting gearbox and a ZF limited slip differential in a common Magnesium alloy housing to form a transaxle, which also provided the mounting points for inboard rear brakes.