A newcomer that I’m really liking the look of much is the Ewens Roadster, the work of Gary Downes at Peterborough-based Fenspeed, well-known for their Ford tuning prowess in addition to their mainstay general repair and MOT-work.

Actually, Gary first built a version of the car some 10-years ago – Johnny Come Lately publications might not remember it on display at Newark show, back then.

Now known as the Ewens Roadster, the car is based on Mazda MX-5 and uses a lot of the donor including engine, gearbox, differential, steering and uprights. The chassis is a fine-looking square tube spaceframe (there is a more expensive round-tube option) and body panels are aluminium with GRP used for nosecone and wings.

Gary pre-fits the rear panel to the chassis as this is quite easy to get wrong and it’s easier if it’s fitted at the factory. A DIY-built Roadster should be do-able from around £7500 (the kit price is £3650) and despite the MX-5’s NA engine delivering relatively meagre 120bhp, a well-known and hilariously effective upgrade to around 200bhp is a bolt-on supercharger kit.

I really liked Kawasaki-coloured body wrap used on the car for the Stoneleigh show last month, incidentally.

More on this one soon. In the meantime visit www.ewenssportscars.co.uk or find them at the other end of 01733 319 193 ENDS.