A warm MERRY CHRISTMAS WELCOME to totalkitcar online … after an, er, interesting year I sincerely hope that you have a GREAT Christmas break, dear reader, full of family time, fun and a chance to chill. We’ll be back AS USUAL next week for our 23^rd Anniversary edition of totalkitcar.com – for the record that’s a grand total of 1196 weeks and I’ve never missed a single week! DEDICATION. I THANK YOU.

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS …

I noted with interest this week a new electric conversion kit from the meisters of such things, Electrogenic. They offer a variety of conversion packages for a variety of classic cars plus, they can sell you a DIY ‘drop-in’ kit for your kitcar.

Their latest offering is a conversion package for the Mazda MX-5 Mk1, which gives the car a useful power hike to 160bhp up from 128bhp in the NA engine.

42kWh battery packs are mounted under the bonnet and in the boot while the car will have a claimed range of around 150 miles.

More from www.electrogenic.co.uk.

TKC MAG – JAN/FEB 2025 issue of TKC MAG is OUT NOW.

Welcome to the first issue of TKC MAG in 2025

Hopefully, we have more winter warmers to entertain you with.

The front cover feature is the Foreman P4R – a popular kitcar making a welcome return to the scene

Solus Motorsport ‘Sinner’ – a brilliant body conversion based on Toyota MR2 Mk3. Originally designed by Wayne Blackwell, it’s been beautifully productionised by Lincolnshire-based Mark Gray

Microlino – this fun little car, taking its inspiration from ‘bubble’ cars of yesteryear, is now available in the UK via Caterham/Morgan dealer, Krazy Horse. Response to the little electric bolide has been exceptional

Morgan Super 3 – Talking of Morgan, we recently tested the latest Super 3 demonstrator. Like Roses, it grows on you (ask your grandad!)!

Industry Greats – Martin Keenan. Plenty of people in the industry realise what a clever bloke Martin Keenan is and the part he has played in building and promoting great kitcars but hopefully, this feature will make more people aware of him. He was key in making the Locost kit a success before he created the MK Indy.

ERA R10 – A new era for Tiger Racing. A name change may be but the people are the same and the cars are still great just like this, their new R10 demonstrator

EXO Concepts – A new company set up to promote the exo-skeletal kitcar movement, namely the products of Exo Sportscars and Halcton Sportscars.

Plus, much more inside

DENNIS ADAMS OBITUARY – Very saddened to hear of the death of Dennis Adams late last year. One of the specialist car industry’s greatest designers, he was best known for his work with Marcos, but there we lots of other stuff, including, of course, the Probe, Glenfrome Facet, Rotrax and Adams Roadster not to mention wrought iron work…

Alternatively, you can CLICK HERE to pre-order your JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 copy NOW.

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 digital 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.

As the name suggests we look at some of the classic marques, great cars, not-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.

Our popular TRACKDAY CALENDAR is where you can find out where, when and how much by CLICKING HERE. Now updated to cover December 2024 and January 2025.

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.

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.

SNIPPETS 1 ……One West Midlands-based company has meticulously planned and driven a 62-mile-long GPS route to create a familiar festive face, in a bid to spread Christmas cheer.

Leading car parts distributor GSF Car Parts has released top-down GPS art depicting a route driven by one of its fleet of vans.

The 100-kilometre (62-mile) route was meticulously designed to create the face of Father Christmas himself, while also incorporating car part pick-ups from GSF Car Parts Birmingham East branch and drop-offs at garage partners all around Birmingham.

With 194 branches nationwide supplying thousands of garages and members of the public with parts, West Midlands-based GSF Car Parts has just opened its new National Distribution Centre in Wolverhampton.

To celebrate the official opening in the first week of December and to spread some festive fun, the company thought it would be fun to create this GPS art in the course of a working day.

Beginning and ending near Summerfield Park in Birmingham, the route, which snaked for 99.9 kilometres around the city, passed places of interest including Edgbaston Stadium, the Wildlife Conservation Park and the National Sealife Centre.

The full route can be seen on Google Maps here.

Steve Horne, CEO of GSF Car Parts, said: “We’re proud to be based in the West Midlands and when one of the team had the idea to recreate a festive GPS route as art – well, given we have more than 1250 delivery vehicles on the road every single day delivering parts from our branches to our garage partners, we thought we’d have fun with it.

“One of our team was able to design a route around Birmingham that also incorporated car part drop-offs for one of our drivers and we thought it might make people smile as we speed towards Christmas Day itself!”

SNIPPETS 2 …….. Here’s one with safety in mind. A few years ago, I noticed that I was struggling t at night, especially when it was raining, so I booked an eye test with a local optician and sure enough, I needed glasses. As far as I was concerned normal eyesight was OK but I’m so glad I bit the bullet.

I’d recommend you pop along to your local opticians if you are in any doubt about driving at night.

Here’s the press release that prompted me to mention the above.

A leading optician is sharing some warning signs to highlight when you may need some extra support with your vision when driving.

Police data shows that 3000 people are killed or injured by drivers with bad eyesight each year and there is an increase in fatal accidents occurring in the dark compared to in the daytime.

Charlotte Cook, Optometrist at Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists said: “Visibility is a main factor in ensuring that we drive safely. We see a reduction in visibility over the winter, finding ourselves at greater risk of accidents.

“Not wearing glasses when you need to can also result in a £1000 fine, or even a disqualification from driving and, this is the time of year when eyesight problems may come to the forefront. It’s common for most people over the age of 45 to experience some level of deterioration in their vision. As this tends to happen gradually, it might not be easy to spot, which is why we recommend regular check-ups with an Optometrist to identify any changes and provide solutions to protect yourself and others while driving.”

Here, Charlotte shares the most common signs that might indicate that you may need help with your eyesight while driving.

Glare from headlights

“Squinting at oncoming headlights or noticing a halo effect around bright lights such as streetlights could be a sign that you have an underlying eye condition that needs attention.

“More light reflects from oncoming headlights at night. This can be difficult for our eyes to adapt to at night as our pupils dilate and become larger due to the lower light conditions and then constrict when faced with bright headlights.

“If glare is impacting your ability to drive safely, it’s important to speak to your optometrist about the options available. An eye examination will determine whether this sensitivity to bright lights is indicative of an underlying condition such as cataracts, or whether you may need glasses, a change to your glasses prescription or to invest in a product such as anti-glare driving lenses, specifically designed to tackle this issue.”

Struggling to gauge distances

“If you’re finding it more of a challenge to estimate distances between other vehicles, hazards and traffic lights, this could be down to an issue with your vision.

“Our depth perception, or our eyes’ ability to judge the distance between two objects, is severely impaired by darkness. The lack of gradient or colours means that reference points, such as the horizon, can practically disappear. With that in mind, it pays to allow extra space between you and the vehicle in front, as well as speaking to an expert about solutions available.”

Blurred road signs

“If you’re having difficulty reading road signs in lower light conditions, this could indicate a problem such as myopia, or ‘short sightedness’. This condition leads to an individual having difficulty seeing things far away. Over the longer term, this can lead to eye strain and cause vision to deteriorate further over time.

“If you’re finding that driving at night leaves you with eye strain or headaches, this could be an indicator that your eyes are having to work even harder to see clearly, due to a reduction in the quality of your vision and the muscles in your eyes working overtime to bring images into focus.”

Nervousness about driving at night

“Anxiety or nervousness about driving at night time could be down to vision issues without you even realising. Driving at night is more difficult than driving in the daytime because your eyes need to work harder to adjust to the change in light levels.

For more information visit: https://www.bayfieldsopticians.com

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

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STEVO’S BEER TIP – ELUSIVE BREWING – LABYRINTH

CHAMPIONING THE BEERS OF THE UK’S BRILLIANT CRAFT – AND MICRO-BREWERIES.

Nothing like enjoying a beer after an afternoon in the garage or following a drive out. OBVIOUSLY, we don’t condone or promote drink driving at totalkitcar.com/TKC MAG but once the driving is done there’s nothing like a quality drop of real ale.

I’ve been amazed at some of the low-volume craft beers that have been appearing. The names of some of them are crazy enough, some of those I have tasted have been off the charts. A recent one that tasted like Battenberg or breakfast pancakes springs to mind.

I know I keep banging on about my favourite micro-pub, the marvellos Radius Arms in Whytleafe, Surrey but I don’t care. Vincent continues to entertain us with some great beers on his menu.

Another one that I enjoyed greatly recently was from Finchampstead-based Elusive Brewing and a black IPA of 4% ABV called Labyrinth.

A low-ish alcohol content makes it a decent session beer. As always, especially at this time of year, don’t drink and drive. More from www.elusivebrewing.com.

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 – DECEMBER 27 – La vie et belle! MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Best regards

Steve