Derek Buckler in his Mk5. The car that started an industry in 1949

HAPPY 75TH ‘BIRTHDAY’ TO THE UK’S KITCAR INDUSTRY – 1949-2024

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

A warm WELCOME to totalkitcar online … Been out on the road this week. In fact, I did some 700 miles and managed to bag six features. One of them took me to ERA Sports & Racing Cars in Wisbech. Formerly Tiger Racing, it’s always a pleasure to visit the Dudley family.

A cold Monday morning didn’t take away from the enjoyable time I had and it was good to see the workshop busy as well as a few customers cars in for various jobs.

Jim Dudley showed me his stash of Ford Type 9 gearboxes and if you are in need give him a shout and tell him ‘Steve from TKC Mag/totalkitcar’ sent you. Similarly, he has a nice collection of Sierra-spec differentials available.

We also bagged a drive of their brand new R10 demonstrator with the feature appearing in the next (Jan/Feb 25) issue of TKC Mag. In the meantime, visit www.tigersportscars.com.

TKC MAG – NOV/DEC 2024  issue of TKC MAG is OUT NOW.

You can CLICK HERE to order your NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024  copy NOW.

Sneak Peek – Oooh, I say!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER has plenty more to entertain you with, dear reader. You will find on this issue’s a la carte menu –

Dirty Dog Outlaws—Outlaw Speedster—a new arrival from Australia, this pastiche of the Porsche 356 is based on the humble MGF (or TF with mods). The Philip Island-based manufacturer has already sold a small handful in the UK.

AeroCycle Merlin MG3 – this brilliant three-wheeler originated as the BRA CX3 in 1985 but has had a slight stop/start existence over the last 20 years or so. The previous custodian, Arthur Rayner tragically died in late 2022. The good news is that the car is back in production. STEVE HOLE rounds up the past, present and future …

BEACH BUGGY OWNERS REUNITED! – A great tale of a reader who sold his beach buggy 35 years ago and with our help found it again. We arranged a dawn meeting on Eastbourne Beach with him and the current owner. A heartwarming tale.

OGLE AT 70 – Ogle design was seventy years ago in 2024 and we were represented at the recent Ogle meet at Knebworth Park, where seven of the surviving Ogle SX1000s turned up. Meanwhile, STEVE HOLE looks at the company’s past.

INDUSTRY GREATS – This issue, Mark Grinnall falls under our spotlight, not only for the brilliant Scorpion III but for his motorsport past and current endeavours with Mid West Moto, a proper destination venue in Stourport-on-Seven which among other things sells Grinnall bike-to-trikes and dealer for the Indian Motorcycle brand.

That’s just some of what we have for you…

Alternatively, you can CLICK HERE to pre-order your NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 copy NOW.

WORLDWIDE READERS – WHY NOT Get TKC MAG on your phone … tablet … MAC … or PC

A little plug (well, it’s my website and I have good things to make you aware of!) for the digital version of TKC MAG. If not having a hard, paper copy of the mag in your mitts doesn’t bother you then may I recommend the digi edition.

An EXACT replica of the paper version it currently costs just £23.99 for a TWELVE MONTHS DIGITAL subscription to TKC MAG ANYWHERE in the world. Visit Pocketmags.com and type in ‘TKC MAG’ and all will be revealed. Alternatively, you download our APP on your mobile and download single issues or a subscription on your phone or tablet.

We are getting a lot of new subscribers on the totalkitcar YouTube channel. If you like this website, you are sure to find something you like on the ‘totalkitcar YouTube channel’? In addition to our usual monthly video upload, we now have a weekly series called the ‘totalkitcar History Files Series. The latter isn’t rocket science. We verbally look at old kitcars with photos added, but we seem to be capturing peoples’ imaginations.

Why not visit the ‘totalkitcar YouTube Channel’?

As the name suggests we look at some of the classic marques, great cars, not so great cars, plus the personalities, events and designers who have graced this wonderful industry over the last 75 years.

If you don’t already subscribe to our channel (just search ‘totalkitcar YouTube Channel’ on YouTube) please do, as it’s free and if you click ‘all’ you’ll be notified every time a new video drops. Finally, may I ask you to hit the thumbs-up button please as that helps the channel greatly.  THANK YOU, dear reader.

History File Series, in association with the Enwin Motors channel. Don’t miss out, subscribe for FREE now.

Search YouTube for the ‘totalkitcar YouTube Channel’ or follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/@tkcmag.

TKC MAG – WHY NOT CONSIDER A SUBSCRIPTION THAT LASTS A WHOLE YEAR? – ACTUALLY, IT LASTS LONGER THAN THAT IF YOU USE THIS SPECIAL OFFER, AS IT WILL LAST FOURTEEN MONTHS. WE’LL ADD AN EXTRA ISSUE TO THE STANDARD TWELVE MONTHS PACKAGE. https://bit.ly/3RxuLgU 

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

By the grace of Royal Mail – if you live in the United Kingdom – we can pretty much say with confidence that you will receive your copies at least two or three days before shop or digital publication dates.

Our popular TRACKDAY CALENDAR is where you can find out where, when and how much by CLICKING HERE. Now updated to cover November and December 2024.

IF YOU LIKE CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS you are in luck. Clicking that button will take you back in time with features on old kitcars, personalities and generally interesting companies who worked within the specialist car and sixties motorsport movements. I really hope you are enjoying them. Not all of them are kitcar-related per se but they all celebrate the underdog and often feature the wonderful world of sixties motorsport.

Classic Kit Cars & Specials has a new home at totalkitcar.com

A lot of classic clubman motorsport features highlight underdog artisans that we hope will appeal to you, dear reader, the sort of companies that we’ve often all heard of but on whom detailed information is often hard to find. Shorrock, Wade Turbochargers, Jack Knight Developments, Cannon Cars, Tom Killeen, David Ogle, the list goes on and on. The sort of companies and individuals that our specialist and kitcar forebears from the sixties would have been very familiar with. You’ll find these subjects contained in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS.

This week we fondly remember Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground used by us and lots of other magazines for feature work using the 4-mile circuit over the years, while also looking at its early history as an RAF base. CLICK HERE to find out more.

SNIPPETS 1 ……. Premium quality lighting and auto accessory specialist, Ring, is urging the automotive industry to remind drivers to put their headlights on if their wipers are on.

While many drivers assume that the only time to use the headlights is at night, there are also instances in the daytime when lights should be used.

Got the chance this week to have a drive of a ‘Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Red-Eye Wide Body’. A bonkers, normally aspirated V8 delivering a crushing 820bhp

The main instance of this is when it starts raining, as the sky darkens and visibility decreases. This is the perfect time for drivers to put on their headlights, not only so they can see the road better, but also to make them even more visible to other road users.

Therefore, Ring is offering a handy saying that will help drivers remember to put their lights on when it starts raining – ‘if wipers are going, lights should be glowing’.

However, technology is prevalent in many vehicles now, so Ring is also reminding drivers that if they have daytime running lights (DRLs) or automatic lights, they shouldn’t just rely on them, but instead manually switch their headlights on, as some DRLs don’t activate rear lights.

Marketing Director for Ring, Henry Bisson, said: “While we as an industry talk a lot about bulbs when the evenings get darker and the clocks go back, this insinuates that the only time to use your headlights is during a certain time of the year or when the sun goes down, but that is simply not the case. Lights are not just for nights.

“Think about when it’s raining and the sky is dark, you can’t always see the cars in front of you without lights on. While sometimes when it’s raining, drivers do not necessarily need to put their headlights on because it’s not that dark, the majority of the time, they do need that extra bit of visibility. So putting your headlights on whenever it starts raining is a good habit to get into, because it helps, not only you see the road ahead of you, but other road users to see you too.”

Regardless of the weather and time of time, drivers should still be checking their headlights regularly and making sure they are working effectively, as lights are not just for nighttime or rain, it’s a safety critical component. More from www.ringautomotive.com.

SNIPPETS 2 …….. The British Motor Museum is again participating in the iconic RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, which is taking place on Sunday (November 3). Actor, Simon Gregson, who has played Steve McDonald on Coronation Street for over thirty years, will be driving a 1901 Wolseley 10hp tonneau. The Run starts in Hyde Park in London and ends by the seafront on Madeira Drive in Brighton.

Simon’s co-driver is Paul Cowland, known for the series Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars, and a recognisable face in the world of classic cars. Also driving a car from the British Motor Museum, a 1904 Thornycroft 20hp tourer, is Mike Brewer, most famous for his many series of Wheeler Dealers.

Celeb group shot L-R: Nick Avery, Mike Brewer, Simon Gregson and Paul Cowland.

The museum has entered six veteran cars in total, including the Wolseley and Thornycroft. Alongside them are a 1902 Albion A1 dog cart, a 1904 Rover 8hp (the oldest known Rover), and a 1904 Wolseley 6hp Phaeton. The final car from the Museum is the 1899 Wolseley 3.5hp voiturette, with its freshly stabilised wings following a fundraising campaign by the Museum. Affectionately known as ‘OWL’, the Wolseley voiturette has participated in the London to Brighton Run a staggering 38 times!

The RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Run is a premier event in the annual motoring calendar and has been running longer than any other in the world. It marks the historic day in 1896 when a group of pioneer motorists set out from London towards the seaside, in celebration of the ‘emancipation of the motor car’.

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Stephen Laing, Head of Collections & Engagement at the British Motor Museum, said: “We are delighted that Simon is driving one of the cars from the museum’s collection. The Run is one of the most exhilarating and exclusive motoring adventures in the world. These wonderful cars are all more than a century old and are some of the rarest and finest models from our collection. Watching 400 veteran cars take part in the Run is such a spectacle and we hope as many people as possible come and watch the  cars and their celebrity drivers in action!”

To find out more about the British Motor Museum please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk. For more information on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run please visit www.veterancarrun.com

SNIPPETS 3 …….. SPECIAL OFFER: 12 months FREE Total Motor Assist for all totalkitcar.com readers!

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So, that’s about it from me for this week, so I’ll bid you a great week, with plenty of enjoyable driving and I look forward to welcoming you once again next Friday – NOVEMBER 8 – La vie et belle!

Best regards

Steve