 |
FEATURES & REGULARS:
TIGER ANNIVERSARY - To celebrate 30 years of Tiger Racing, Stent gathered eight examples of the breed.
MEV ELECTROCET - Having sold the company, Stuart Mills is still having fun with the cars he designed...
GCS HAWKE - Body mods and a breathed-on 4.6-litre Rover V8 makes this GCS stand out from the crowd.
PJR SPORTS - We take a look at a one-off MGB based traditional tourer.
GARDNER DOUGLAS GDT70 - Peter Rosenthal’s GD T70 is on the road... does the reality live up to the dream?
NEWS - The latest news from the industry, including Westfield’s takeover of Chesil.
PRODUCTS - The most tempting new products for the kit car owner. Will you get your wallet out?
CLUBS - In the peak season for kit car activity, there’s been plenty going on in the last four weeks.
LETTERS - Got something to get off your chest about kit cars? You can vent through out letters page.
AXON: MISPLACED ENTHUSIASM - Gary looks back on the career of one of the longest-serving kit car designers, Tim Dutton.
FAME - Proud of your kit car? Send us some photos and you might see it here...
RACE DIARIES - The latest trackside updates from those who compete with their kit cars.
CARS FOR SALE - Looking for a project to get stuck into or something to just drive? It might be here!
BETWEEN THE LINES - Somewhere for everything that didn’t have a place in this issue...
EVENTS:
EVENTS DIARY - Looking for something to do for what remains of 2019? Here are some destinations...
CARS AND COFFEE AT CKC - Poor weather didn’t put off the hardiest kit car owners from coming to our open day.
MOTORING AT THE MANOR - Gary Axon got along to a new car show in South Wales.
COVENTRY MOTORFEST - There were plenty of Citroen 2CV based kits celebrating the French marque’s centenary.
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC - We were at Silverstone Classic, one of the key historic motorsport events of the year.
BICESTER SUNDAY SCRAMBLE - Now an established part of the scene, the Bicester Sunday Scramble attracts lots of kits.
WORKSHOP:
DRAG DUTTON PHAETON BUILD - A Dutton like no other you’ve seen... this one is built for the dragstrip.
OUR CARS - The latest ups and downs from our writers’ fleet of kit cars.
RUNNING REPORTS - Our real-world kit car builders give you the lowdown on progress in their garages.
It felt like lighting the blue touchpaper. As soon as I hit ‘publish’ on a Facebook post about Westfield Sportscars’ acquisition of the Chesil Motor Company, I knew there would be a chorus of‘oh no, not another GTM.’ Sure enough, almost all the comments mentioned Westfield’s unfortunate handling of the GTM marque, with many of the comments coming from disgruntled owners.
I have sympathy with their view. The long-lived GTM marque was one of the industry’s flagships for ambition and achievement. I still have a major hankering for a Libra. Even 21 years after its launch, it appeals as a contemporary GT-cum-sports car. Back in 1998, it made a huge impact. I’m as disappointed as anyone that for almost a decade you haven’t been able to buy a new GTM kit. But I also reckon the market for such a car would be tough. With so many second-hand production cars that do the same (or similar) job to the Libra, it would take a kit car diehard to choose the self-built car over a Lotus Elise or Porsche Boxster. Factor in how much it would cost to build a Libra in today’s money (and nobody knows, of course, but I’d hazard a guess at maybe £30,000) and the conditions would be tougher still for GTM. As much as it pains us to admit it, I think the days of a kit form car in the Libra’s mould are over... after all, nobody rushed the fill the gap the Libra left. And it’s for that reason that I don’t think Chesil will be another GTM. The Speedster has a timeless appeal that’s impervious to anything the mainstream sports car market can throw at it. We also have evidence, in the form of its Lotus Eleven replica, that Westfield can find a market for a classic replica. It’s an entirely different proposition to GTM, and one that I hope we’ll see flourish.
But I’m also with everyone who mourns the loss of the Libra. A new GTM would be a very exciting thing.
Adam Wilkins
