Pictures of your Kit Car…
Discussion
Hedgehopper said:
In the old days they called them 'Specials' and more often than not were Ford 10 based. They were generally bought as a separate chassis and fibreglass body although many of them actually used the chassis from the donor Ford 10 itself. I don't remember any companies that actually sold a complete kit but there were plenty of bolt on goodies such as hydraulic brake conversions, twin carbs, aluminium cylinder heads and four branch exhausts etc, etc. Fibreglass was of course in its infancy then but it was available for special builders to make up floors and bulkheads as these were often not included with the bodies.
Special building came to an end with the arrival of the Mini which at just over £400'ish was what it would cost you to put together a decent special.
I built mine between '58 and '62 whilst I was an apprentice and was the start of my love affair with fibreglass cars. I guess I am addicted to the smell although my wife hates it especially when walked into the house on the soles of my shoes!
Growing family caused a bit of a gap but in the '80s I built a Europa Twin Cam onto a new chassis and used that as a daily driver for many years. I currently have TVR Griffith 500 which I love but am finding increasingly difficult to get out of! My son has got his eye on it but he will have to wait a bit yet.
The car below is the one I built in the late fifties, it's a Tornado chassis and an Ashley Laminates body, a Ford 10 engine with twin carbs and four branch exhaust, and cable brake to hydraulic conversion etc
Anyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
What a great post! You made a very good job building that Ashley, from what I've read they were a lot more difficult to build than current kitcars. Yours looks great, but what were you thinking with that steering wheel? Special building came to an end with the arrival of the Mini which at just over £400'ish was what it would cost you to put together a decent special.
I built mine between '58 and '62 whilst I was an apprentice and was the start of my love affair with fibreglass cars. I guess I am addicted to the smell although my wife hates it especially when walked into the house on the soles of my shoes!
Growing family caused a bit of a gap but in the '80s I built a Europa Twin Cam onto a new chassis and used that as a daily driver for many years. I currently have TVR Griffith 500 which I love but am finding increasingly difficult to get out of! My son has got his eye on it but he will have to wait a bit yet.
The car below is the one I built in the late fifties, it's a Tornado chassis and an Ashley Laminates body, a Ford 10 engine with twin carbs and four branch exhaust, and cable brake to hydraulic conversion etc
Anyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
Edited by Hedgehopper on Saturday 3rd November 18:36
Good to hear you're still enjoying your motoring
QUOTE:
'You made a very good job building that Ashley, from what I've read they were a lot more difficult to build than current kitcars. Yours looks great, but what were you thinking with that steering wheel? '
Thanks for your interest. The steering wheel was that shape purely because my legs wouldn't fit under a round one! Specials in those days often left the manufacture of the floor and bulkheads up to the builder. Creating a low floor allowing you to sit between the chassis rails was not always possible hence the bottom of the steering wheel was too close to the driver's legs. In later years Austin had a similarly shaped wheel on the Allegro though for what reason I have no idea.
'You made a very good job building that Ashley, from what I've read they were a lot more difficult to build than current kitcars. Yours looks great, but what were you thinking with that steering wheel? '
Thanks for your interest. The steering wheel was that shape purely because my legs wouldn't fit under a round one! Specials in those days often left the manufacture of the floor and bulkheads up to the builder. Creating a low floor allowing you to sit between the chassis rails was not always possible hence the bottom of the steering wheel was too close to the driver's legs. In later years Austin had a similarly shaped wheel on the Allegro though for what reason I have no idea.
Hedgehopper said:
In the old days they called them 'Specials' and more often than not were Ford 10 based. They were generally bought as a separate chassis and fibreglass body although many of them actually used the chassis from the donor Ford 10 itself. I don't remember any companies that actually sold a complete kit but there were plenty of bolt on goodies such as hydraulic brake conversions, twin carbs, aluminium cylinder heads and four branch exhausts etc, etc. Fibreglass was of course in its infancy then but it was available for special builders to make up floors and bulkheads as these were often not included with the bodies.
Special building came to an end with the arrival of the Mini which at just over £400'ish was what it would cost you to put together a decent special.
I built mine between '58 and '62 whilst I was an apprentice and was the start of my love affair with fibreglass cars. I guess I am addicted to the smell although my wife hates it especially when walked into the house on the soles of my shoes!
Growing family caused a bit of a gap but in the '80s I built a Europa Twin Cam onto a new chassis and used that as a daily driver for many years. I currently have TVR Griffith 500 which I love but am finding increasingly difficult to get out of! My son has got his eye on it but he will have to wait a bit yet.
The car below is the one I built in the late fifties, it's a Tornado chassis and an Ashley Laminates body, a Ford 10 engine with twin carbs and four branch exhaust, and cable brake to hydraulic conversion etc
Anyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
Fantastic post, thanks. Back around 1975 I bought what was called a Ford Falcon 2 seater based upon a Ford 10 or E93A chassis, cable brakes etc. It was a none runner when I bought it, tinkered for a year then scrapped it.....Sort of MGA rear end, didn't have a screen, I tried to incorporate an MG Midget one, unsucessfully. Was 6 volt too.Special building came to an end with the arrival of the Mini which at just over £400'ish was what it would cost you to put together a decent special.
I built mine between '58 and '62 whilst I was an apprentice and was the start of my love affair with fibreglass cars. I guess I am addicted to the smell although my wife hates it especially when walked into the house on the soles of my shoes!
Growing family caused a bit of a gap but in the '80s I built a Europa Twin Cam onto a new chassis and used that as a daily driver for many years. I currently have TVR Griffith 500 which I love but am finding increasingly difficult to get out of! My son has got his eye on it but he will have to wait a bit yet.
The car below is the one I built in the late fifties, it's a Tornado chassis and an Ashley Laminates body, a Ford 10 engine with twin carbs and four branch exhaust, and cable brake to hydraulic conversion etc
Anyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
Edited by Hedgehopper on Saturday 3rd November 18:36
Was it this one?...……
http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/17351/this-falc...
It's amazing that people are finding these old specials and re-building them as classics.
http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/17351/this-falc...
It's amazing that people are finding these old specials and re-building them as classics.
Hedgehopper said:
Was it this one?...……
http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/17351/this-falc...
It's amazing that people are finding these old specials and re-building them as classics.
Loooong time ago but that is way prettier than the thing I had although the rear is a bit similar in regard to the boot aperture.http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/17351/this-falc...
It's amazing that people are finding these old specials and re-building them as classics.
spyder dryver said:
Here's a pic of my old Furyblade. I was experimenting with "hover-cars" at the time, using an advanced hybrid form of baking powder as the raising agent.
Unfortunately it wouldn't stay up for as long as I'd like (fnaar-fnaar) so I put the wheels back on.
If you wanted it to stay up, a short skirt might have helped. Unfortunately it wouldn't stay up for as long as I'd like (fnaar-fnaar) so I put the wheels back on.
Hedgehopper said:
edited for brevity
Anyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
Hi HedgehopperAnyway, back to the Kit Car thread which I am really enjoying.
Edited by Hedgehopper on Saturday 3rd November 18:36
Fabulous car. Great story.
I don't know if you've been following this thread
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But as a 60's special builder would you have any idea as to what this car is? ......... Please - we are all getting desperate!
Old-school early 1988 Westfield that's done National Hillclimb c'ships; LeMans trips & tons of trackdays.
'Narrow' & 'lowline' bodywork: nose cone sits lower than the wheel arches, whereas later bodywork is well above the wheel arches.
Steel 1700 Xflow ('244' cam, Chamberlain head, 12.5:1 Accralites, twin 45's), TranX Clubman 'Rocket' 'box, TranX 4.44:1 LSD
Alloy hubs, bell housing, diff housing & gearbox casing for lightweight build.
30yrs old now & in great shape - a testament to Westfield's excellent chassis powder-coating and the GRP quality. Only the front wishbones needed re-coating, and a re-paint it VW Tornado red 15yrs ago.
Edited by ggdrew on Thursday 7th March 22:10
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