Stoneleigh 2008 Kit Car Show Report
Posted by Madabout News on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 11:25 PM |
 Article and Pictures by Chris Pickering
The National Kit Car Motor Show at Stoneleigh is the largest exhibition of its type in the world. It's a Mecca for the UK kit car industry and last weekend thousands flocked to see it. Despite some characteristically British weather there was a good turnout, with plenty of owners taking to the campsite.
Outside, virtually every conceivable kit car genre was in attendance, with no less than eighty clubs present. There was a real buzz around the site and a great sense of community. Live music and a well stocked bar added to the proceedings on Sunday night, whilst the various food stalls were on hand to provide a medicinal fry-up on Monday morning. For those who weren’t feeling delicate, there were tyre-smoking passenger rides on offer at The Westfield Slalom Experience and the Dakar 4X4 was thrilling visitors on the off-road course. To cap it off, there were a fantastic variety of trade stalls selling everything from nitrous oxide injection kits to camping gear.
Inside, the show featured a good mix of new cars and established favourites. The Veranti coupe was making its first public appearance near the entrance to hall one. It uses the same MR2 base as the previous convertible to produce an elegant, well-finished coupe. Interestingly, the conversion no longer requires you to cut the donor car's roof section and the Veranti is now fully SVA-exempt.
 New Veranti Coupe made appearance at Stoneleigh 2008
Electric cars put in a strong showing at this year’s show. Scossa Developments, from Powys, brought the prototype chassis for their forthcoming electric sports car. The sevenesque roadster uses a bank of lead-acid batteries to power it to sixty in around 5 seconds. It boasts an electrically governed top speed of 100mph and a range of 50 miles. Meanwhile, the TREND E uses similar technology to power a Mini Moke style utility, based on the longstanding Jimini. The car manages a slightly more sedate top speed of 50mph, but it returns the monetary equivalent of 220mpg and brings plenty of retro-charm.
Continuing the theme was MEV's excellent R2. Along with a choice of petrol engines, the company are now offering an electric variant, capable of producing a staggering 500 lb-ft of torque from stationary. Weighing in at 620kg, the performance should be lively, to say the least. As displayed, the R2 features a range of approximately 40 miles if 'driven enthusiastically', although with larger battery backs a range of up to 140 miles would be possible. The lithium-iron-phosphate batteries are good for 5,000 cycles and each recharge will cost you around 15p from the mains. The downside is that this technology doesn't come cheap and at £10,360 the batteries cost around ten times the price of the equivalent lead-acid models. Although MEV can also supply those on request.
 Jimini based Trend E electric vehicle
 MEV delving into the electric kit car scene with the R2
Another emerging market seems to be the ultra-light three-wheeler. Great British Sports Cars gave us a sneak preview of The Bullet. Their prototype single seater is powered by a 50cc four stroke bike engine, meaning that drivers as young as sixteen could enjoy it on a moped license. De-restricted (on a car license) it’s capable of 60mph and a projected cost of under £1,500 for the kit means that you really could build one on a paper round salary. The production version is due to feature an unusual, aircraft-style enclosed canopy allied to a lightweight, yet tough, double-skinned monocoque chassis. Later, engine options of up to 1000cc are planned to challenge the existing performance three-wheelers, but it’s the prospect of being able to drive one of these whilst other people are still on mopeds that really captures the imagination.
Returning to four wheels, and indeed four wheel drive, Adrenaline Motorsport were continuing to impress with the mighty Murtaya. They came with a hard top rally car built to contest the British Tarmac Championship. Even in road-trim the Murtaya is more than half a ton lighter than the (already rapid) Impreza it’s based on. Performance is predictably massive, with a 0-100mph time of 7 seconds and the 50-80mph overtaking sprint completed in just 2.1. Adrenaline hope the rally-spec car will become the clubman’s weapon of choice and it seems that this has every chance of becoming the case.
For those who prefer their motorsport track-based; Spire Sports Cars were on hand with the stunning GT-R sports racer and it looked every inch the LMP car. A customer GT-R has recently broken a string of course records in hillclimbing and Spire are now supplying race chassis for the 750 Motor Club’s RGB Championship. The car is said to go through the SVA very easily and there are already several road-going examples about. The car that was on display featured a supercharged Kawasaki ZX14R engine, producing 298hp at the rear wheels. Weight is around 485kg, giving the GT-R a Veyron-humbling power to weight ratio of 614hp/ton.
Another car due to attack the track in 2008 is the Raw Fulcrum. Making its show debut at Stoneleigh, it uses the firm’s proven Striker chassis plus a choice of lightweight car and bike engines in a streamlined, fully-enveloping body. The Fulcrum looks set to become a trackday favourite, with both road and race versions now available.
 RAW's new Fulcrum trackday kit car
There were plenty of industry stalwarts at the show too. Autotune were present with the evergreen Gemini and their Aristocat Jaguar XK-series replica. The recently re-engineered Sylva Jester also made a welcome return in the hands of sole UK agent, Stingray Motorsport. Now based on the Ford KA, its revised chassis uses specially designed AVO adjustable shock absorbers, developed directly with the company. Meanwhile, BGH, who bought the design from Fisher last year, were displaying the superb Fury.
Stoneleigh also gave us a chance to catch up with two of the biggest names in the kit car industry. It was the first chance to see how Westfield and GTM compliment each other after Potenza Sports Cars had acquired the two firms. Both now operate out of a single factory in the West Midlands, with development costs, technical expertise and manpower shared between them. They aim to commonise many components and ultimately use the same Honda VTEC engine options. There are a raft of small changes on the cards for both marques, with the intention that they all retrofit on to the existing models. Speaking the to Potenza chairman, Frank Turner, it became obvious that this is a company with big ideas and extensive expertise. This can only be a good for GTM and Westfield, who seem to share a bright future.
The replicas were out in force as usual. There were some spectacular recreations on display and none more so than the cars from Factory Five Racing. On show for the first time at Stoneleigh were their beautifully engineered replicas of the AC Cobra and Daytona Coupe. The Factory Five Cobra uses the big block, small block or quad cam (Mustang) V8s from Ford, whilst the Coupe can only accommodate a small block at present. This is the first time that a right hand drive option has been available, but both cars benefit from over a decade of sales and development in the States. There are also plans to start a UK version of the American one-make race series, with standardised engines and cross-ply tyres. Both cars come in the form of a comprehensive kit, with virtually just the engine, gearbox and wheels to be supplied. Total build costs are estimated at roughly £36,000 for the Cobra and £38,000 for the coupe, with a build time of approximately 250 hours.
 Factory Five breaking into the UK Cobra market
 Factory Five are making a splash on this side of the pond with their Daytona and Cobra replicas
Factory Five also gave us a preview of another part of their US range, rumoured to be making an appearance on this side of the pond. The GTM Supercar is an aptly named mid-engined design with hints of the Ford GT and Maserati MC12. It uses the Corvette C-5’s engine and suspension along with the trusty Porsche G50 transaxle. Priced at only around $6,000 more than their other cars in the States, we can’t wait to see it over here.
As always, Stoneleigh provided us with a huge array of interesting machinery. There was something for everyone whether you were looking for a classic replica, a featherweight track machine or a V12 supercar. Yet it’s also more than that – it’s the world’s largest gathering of kit car enthusiasts and a showcase for the industry. So, with the tents folded and the tyre marks fading for another year, it’s great to see that the show was another resounding success.
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