The biggest news of the year as far as the UK’s kitcar industry is concerned with news this week that the kitcar icon that is Tim Dutton, fresh from ‘retirement’ and selling his amphibious cars business has announced that he is returning to making kitcars again, his first since 1989. He sold 8000 of them by the time he stopped and turned to amphibs.

Tim Dutton back as a kitcar manufacturer – AGAIN! Me, Tim and the ‘Round Britain In a Tiny Speedboat’ legend that is Harry Dwyer!

Tim has recently been buying and restoring Phaeton S4s, one of his biggest-selling models from the first time around.

We regularly speak and although I didn’t know about this news in advance I was aware that he was up to something. When he asked me about the forthcoming Newark show sort of confirmed my suspicions.

The new car will be called PHAETON SERIES 5 and will be based on Mazda MX-5 Mk3 (NC) and his first demo car will be based around an MX-5 Sport 2-litre with a six-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential.

Here’s a Dutton Phaeton. An older one as pix of the new S5 don’t exist yet

In a neat move, the new car’s VIN number will end in ‘…8001’ which as Tim says: “All rather apt given where I left off,”

Compared to the S4, the new S5 will be 4in wider (2in on each side of the cockpit, basically) and it’ll have 6in extra legroom, which means it can accommodate the MX-5’s leather sports seats.

Tim: “As a result, the car will be ideal for the more refined and ample-bodied sporting gentleman or lady,”

From the outset, Tim was adamant that the Phaeton S5 had to be a true single donor vehicle and it had to be based around a so-called ‘world’ car, just like his amphibious Reef and Surf models were.

Great news as far as I’m concerned.

Tim Dutton made 260 amphibious kits in-between stopping producing kitcars in 1989 and 2024! Here’s a Dutton Reef

A new website will be available very soon so my advice is to regularly check www.timdutton.com ENDS.