Content provided in partnership with
Rare, fast and endangered but still rolling along
Independent, The (London), Feb 10, 2004
The styling is by Leigh Adams, son of Dennis Adams who shaped several Marcos models. The carbon-fibre body, made in a lightweight, one-piece moulding, clothes a tubular steel chassis and the Ford 4.6- litre, 32-valve V8 that Rover now uses in the MG ZT 260 and SV sports car. It is a wide machine - 6ft 7in - and expensive at pounds 69,950. Does it work?
I drove that second prototype, which was clearly work in progress. It looked hefty, imposing and a little odd, as though it was melting in the sun and the curves were distorted. It felt suitably fast and potent, if not as bombastic as its creators intended, and it handled well. I could partly forgive the imperfect interior detailing as it was to be modified, but it was almost impossible to see around a right-hand bend thanks to the intrusive screen pillar and mirror.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
The Invicta was quite good, but not great. Maybe it is better now. Maybe it will ensnare those bored 911 owners, or maybe not.
There are survivors out there. AC is Britain's oldest car company and also has one of the most turbulent histories. Currently it is based in Frimley, Surrey and produces the Cobra, as it has done on and off since 1962, and has reforged its licensing deal with Carroll Shelby, the American creator of the Cobra idea (a fat Ford V8 in an AC Ace sports car).
In parallel to this, AC makes a cheaper, carbon-fibre-bodied version in Malta - not the only piece of low labour-cost outsourcing among our cottage industrialists.
Ariel is a tiny North Perrott, Somerset-based company as new as AC is old, and makes a tiny sports car called the Atom (a name once used by Fairthorpe, a long-gone kit-car maker). The name honours the defunct motorcycle maker, but the car is maybe the closest you can get to an open-wheeled racing car for the road.
It wears its structure on the outside, is powered by a Rover K- series engine, and is the brainchild of long-time car and interior designer Simon Saunders.
The engine configuration that crops up again and again from Ascari to Westfield. is V8. The Ultima boasts Chevrolet V8 power and 1980s Le Mans looks - it's a fierce beast. Intuitive engineer Lee Noble, who now makes his own cars, was involved in the Ultima's design as he was with that of the earliest Ascaris. Ultimas are expensive, often bought as a kit of parts as a satisfying project for the well-heeled petrolhead.
Or take Ascari. The name suggests, intentionally, that of champion Italian racing drivers, but it actually stands for Anglo-Scottish Car Industries. The Scottish part has gone - Ascari is based in a handsome and modern factory in Banbury - but the KZ-1, a mid-engined coupe with BMW V8 power, is about to enter production after many delays. It is a handsome, beautifully built machine. Ascari also runs a racing team and owns a track in Spain.
Then there are the truly radical. Radical Cars make true racing cars for the road, one of which holds the road-car lap record at Germany's tortuous Nurburgring circuit. They have a full-width body, and have become the ultimate choice for speed among the growing band of drivers who take part in trackdays to find thrills no longer available on the road.
