Kit Car
Ashley
Ashley Laminates of Essex made glass-fibre bodies and chassis for home-built specials from 1955 to 1962, based on Austin Seven and Ford parts. Its 1172 body went on…
Buckler Cars
Buckler chassis and running gear were used by amateur and semi-professional racers throughout the 1950s, and the former Crowthorne and Reading factory sites both carry blue plaques marking…
Caterham
Caterham Cars has built the Seven, the lightweight sports car it took over from Lotus in 1973, ever since. Founded by Graham Nearn, a Lotus dealer in Caterham,…
Clan
A group of former Lotus engineers led by Paul Haussauer founded Clan in 1969 at Washington, County Durham, to build the Crusader, a small glass-fibre monocoque sports car…
Davrian
Davrian was a tiny glass-fibre monocoque coupé designed by structural engineer Adrian Evans and built from 1965, first in Clapham and later in west Wales. Light and agile,…
Dax
Dax, founded by Derek Johns in 1968 as DJ Sportscars, was the first British company to make a kit replica of the AC Cobra 427. Its Dax 427,…
Dutton
Dutton Cars of Worthing, founded by Tim Dutton-Woolley in 1970, was by number of kits sold the largest kit-car maker in the world. Its Escort-based Phaeton roadster and…
Fairthorpe
Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett, the wartime leader of the RAF's Pathfinder Force, founded Fairthorpe in Buckinghamshire in 1954 to build small, light sports cars, many sold as kits.…
Gilbern
Gilbern was the only Welsh car maker of note, building glassfibre-bodied GTs from a former colliery site near Pontypridd. Early cars were sold mainly as kits, and around…
Ginetta
The four Walklett brothers founded Ginetta at Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1958, building kit and component sports cars such as the G4 and G15. Now owned by Lawrence Tomlinson's…
GTM
GTM began in 1967 as the Cox GTM, a mid-engined coupé built from Mini parts in a Stockport garage. Under later owners it became one of Britain's leading…
Marcos
Marcos Engineering built low, elegant sports cars with an unusual plywood chassis, from its 1959 founding in Wales through decades based in Wiltshire. Best known for the Marcos…
Marlin
Marlin was founded in Plymouth in 1979 by Paul Moorhouse, whose Triumph-based Roadster, with a grille that hints at a pre-war Alfa Romeo, became one of the best-known…
Midas
The Midas, a rust-free composite coupé on Mini and later Metro parts, was launched in 1978 by Harold Dermott, who had taken over the Mini Marcos. With aerodynamic…
NG
NG Cars was founded in 1979 by engineer Nick Green in New Milton, Hampshire. Its MGB-based TA, TC, TD and TF evoked the elegant British sports cars of…
Nova
The Nova, a wedge-shaped kit car on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis with a canopy that lifts forward instead of doors, was launched in 1971 by Automotive Design and…
Robin Hood
Robin Hood Engineering, founded by Richard Stewart in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, in 1980, made some of the cheapest and most popular Lotus Seven-style kits, built around a single donor…
Rochdale
Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering built glass-fibre sports car bodies and complete kits in Rochdale from 1948 to 1973. Its GT body was the best seller, and the…
Spartan Cars
Spartan Cars built a traditionally-styled open two-seater kit car, first on Triumph Herald and Spitfire mechanicals, from Nottingham and later Derbyshire. Over 4,000 kits were exported to more…
Tornado
Tornado Cars of Rickmansworth made glass-fibre sports car bodies and chassis for Ford-based specials from 1957, starting with the Typhoon. Its handsome Talisman 2+2 coupé of 1962 was…
