Excalibur kitcars (Not the tacky ones)
Discussion
Hi,
I found this:
www.kitcars.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=727&ARCHIVE=
www.btinternet.com/~Darryl.Webb/Kitcars/Future/Future.htm
Might not be the same car though.
What state are they in?
Any pictures?
Thanks William
I found this:
www.kitcars.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=727&ARCHIVE=
www.btinternet.com/~Darryl.Webb/Kitcars/Future/Future.htm
Might not be the same car though.
What state are they in?
Any pictures?
Thanks William
The link you gave me, the red one has a similar front end. When I say "Similar" I mean resembles vaguely. they were built near Looe in Cornwall and a load of them (about 5) are in various stages of build. There is one which is clearly an ex-racer as it is stickered up. 3 are well under brambles and look like they have been there for ages. It is a proper find. But, mates gilfriends dad used to be a chum of this bloke. Isn't saying anything as he would like one.
I might drop the garage a line. Digi Cam is knackered and only works at night! I will get a photo in due course. they look like proper racing cars apart from the non-competition ones seem to have a reliant-esque bonnet hatch (yuk).
I might drop the garage a line. Digi Cam is knackered and only works at night! I will get a photo in due course. they look like proper racing cars apart from the non-competition ones seem to have a reliant-esque bonnet hatch (yuk).
Yes, I think you are right, Dave - I have hazy recollections of them starting out rear engined, then ending up with the motor at the front. They were, I believe, originally intended to resemble a GT40, in the same way that VW based cars like the Countess and Panache were supposed to look a bit like the Countach - but only if you didn't know what the genuine article looked like and you squinted a bit!
Not sure, but think the British Excalibur (as opposed to American one which was 1930's Merc SSK lookalike) was developed from the Seraph, which was I think developed from Beetle based kit with GT40-ish looks.
Excalibur had basic twin rail ladder frame chassis and used Cortina parts though think racing version had Rover V8. As said earlier, not very well regarded.
Excalibur had basic twin rail ladder frame chassis and used Cortina parts though think racing version had Rover V8. As said earlier, not very well regarded.
Bloody hell!
I turned up there today and saw the nature of the beast.
You seem to be right, on opening the bonnet, 4 of them had no engines and had steering/suspension/chassis components where the engine should have been.
There were 2 nice ones, a "flagship" and a "racer". Both were in pretty shitty order for fibreglass cars. The flagship had the tacky bonnet hatch, a white leather interior and ferns growing in the carpet. Big ferns. On forcing the bonnet open, I was greeted by a lack of engine, so it would seem the engine was in the back. The rear engined ones seemed to have Cortina wheels.
Then there was the racer. One piece front end without the Reliant "Bonnet Hatch", a rollcage which seemed to be extensive. Simple instrumentation, a Capri 3L axle, big tyres, bucket seats, and a f&ckoff great big V8 under the bonnet. Big Kev exhausts and about 15mm ground clearance. Brilliant.
All the moulds+stuff were kicking around.
I had that horrible feeling. "Shit, I've got to have that one at all costs".
The owner of the cars has them parked at the "Site" of his son, they are inaccessable, buried, have been there for years. Apparently, he (the owner) is an alcoholic and is shitfaced all the time. Son is only really bothered about his own business.
What will happen will be "You want the red one, you've got to take them all" which is a major undertaking and probably rather expensive. I might have to do that. depends what he thinks they are worth. 4 rather undersirable, incomplete kitcars, moulds, etc and then an INSANE racer. It really is up there with the best looks wise.
Shame my digital camera is shagged.
I turned up there today and saw the nature of the beast.
You seem to be right, on opening the bonnet, 4 of them had no engines and had steering/suspension/chassis components where the engine should have been.
There were 2 nice ones, a "flagship" and a "racer". Both were in pretty shitty order for fibreglass cars. The flagship had the tacky bonnet hatch, a white leather interior and ferns growing in the carpet. Big ferns. On forcing the bonnet open, I was greeted by a lack of engine, so it would seem the engine was in the back. The rear engined ones seemed to have Cortina wheels.
Then there was the racer. One piece front end without the Reliant "Bonnet Hatch", a rollcage which seemed to be extensive. Simple instrumentation, a Capri 3L axle, big tyres, bucket seats, and a f&ckoff great big V8 under the bonnet. Big Kev exhausts and about 15mm ground clearance. Brilliant.
All the moulds+stuff were kicking around.
I had that horrible feeling. "Shit, I've got to have that one at all costs".
The owner of the cars has them parked at the "Site" of his son, they are inaccessable, buried, have been there for years. Apparently, he (the owner) is an alcoholic and is shitfaced all the time. Son is only really bothered about his own business.
What will happen will be "You want the red one, you've got to take them all" which is a major undertaking and probably rather expensive. I might have to do that. depends what he thinks they are worth. 4 rather undersirable, incomplete kitcars, moulds, etc and then an INSANE racer. It really is up there with the best looks wise.
Shame my digital camera is shagged.
The ones which are rear engined have "Excalibur Kitcars, Made in Looe, Cornwall" on the back, according to legend (!) they were originally made by this bloke. I have a feeling that they are heavily based on beetles. Horrible, they are pretty nasty.
The racer would fit in at a supercar show, no problem. A completely different, beautiful piece of kit. It falls into the "What the hell is that" category.
I will get a photo, pronto.
The racer would fit in at a supercar show, no problem. A completely different, beautiful piece of kit. It falls into the "What the hell is that" category.
I will get a photo, pronto.
studog said:
The original (and rather prettier) car was called the Bonito I think it was made by Fibre fab. I will check on the manufacturere if anyone cares!
Never heard of it so I did some searching and came up with a few sites:
http://home.tiscali.nl/~bchoek/Bonito/herstel.htm
www.benichelis.de/bonito/bonito.htm
www.bonito-ft.de.vu/
That first link seems to have lots of usefull information, if only I could read the language....
It seems the company name is "Fiberfab", but I have also seen "Fiber-Fab" and "Fiber Fab"
Here's a pic:
Hi guys, well i was just surfing about and found this conversation about the seraph kit cars, funnaly enough my father (wscars) has owned the rites to build for a few years now and still builds them to this day, with modernising throughout to keep with the times... i carnt give you all the spec etc but i do no they used to run on ford granada/sierra gear, along with tuned 2.9 v6 injection lumps (in the front), nowerdays im not sure what hes putting inn them. And yeh iv allways thort they look like the gt40 on the front, not sure what the rear is supposed to be... i will certainly have a word with him about this and if any questions come thru hopefully i will be able to help etc
unsure how to get pics here but both the Excaliber and Bonito are in the 'our cars' section of the kent kit car club site
http://www.kentkitcarclub.com/
http://www.kentkitcarclub.com/
Edited by migwell on Saturday 9th January 11:17
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