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I have a J H Classics DGT which is a replica of a Ferrari Dino 246GT and is based on a Lancia Beta. I bought the car a couple of years back needing restoration (it was orignally built around 1990), I have now rebuilt it and am looking for any information anyone has on these cars.
From what I can find on the limited information available it would seem that J H Classics were taken over (or the moulds were sold to) Deon Cars but I can't verify this as they have also disappeared.
I am after any information that any one may have on these cars, if anyone has a build manual that I could borrow and copy (a long shot I know!), then I would be eternally greatful!
Any help that anyone can give would be really appreciated as at present I don't even know where the master cylinder comes from (as it doesn't seem to be a lancia beta one).
I have attached a picture of the car in an almost finished state (prior to the retrim and wheel centres being fitted.
Hi Andrew, I was in a similar position myself aprox. 8 years ago. I boug, cheers MADMANht a Karma dino, this had Ford front suspension VW transaxle, and I fitted a 3.5 rover V8. so poss. they went down the same route?
I found out the man who owned Karma or RW cars was a man caled Roger Wolsey who was very hepfull and knew his stuff, I have looked through mountains of paperwok but can not seem to find his tel.no. if I come across it I wil contact you MADAMN
Hi,
If only people relised Deon DGT is not the same as the Karma, the Karma looks nothing like the DGT which was a more accurate Ferrari Dino Replica.
Andrew if you are still looking for a build manual I have the build manual that covers the DGT. Mirabeau and Scoperto. I also have a parts source list.
I currently have one of the Unfinished Deon Mirabeau and previously owned the only Deon Mirabeau with the 2.9 Cosworth V6 in it which I bought from the Isle of Wight. I sold this to a guy from Falkirk in Scotland.
I used to know a guy called Rob who originally worked for Deon many years ago and I sourced a number of parts from him but don't know if I still have his number.
If you want to speak to me about build manuals etc, send me an e-mail at ross (at symbol) a-dicarlo.fsnet.co.uk, doing it this way so I don't get so much spam. Also put the title as DEON KIT CARS in capital so I notice it.
I can supply you a fair bit of history on Deon and their cars.
Hi, I have an original JH Classics brochure for this as I have always been passionate about Dinos in their various configurations. I read the kitcar mags avidly about this car. I remember one artcle in the 70s which said the molds were originally taken from one of the earliest "Ferrari" models - the 1968/9 Dino 206GT. The 206 was very rare and quickly followed by the one we all know - the 246GT which was a few inches taller, although it was hard to tell by looking at it. I'm happy to scan and send a copy of the brochure and I'd love to get my hands on a copy of the manuals,
Cheers
Ross
I have a J H Classics DGT which is a replica of a Ferrari Dino 246GT and is based on a Lancia Beta. I bought the car a couple of years back needing restoration (it was orignally built around 1990), I have now rebuilt it and am looking for any information anyone has on these cars.
From what I can find on the limited information available it would seem that J H Classics were taken over (or the moulds were sold to) Deon Cars but I can't verify this as they have also disappeared.
I am after any information that any one may have on these cars, if anyone has a build manual that I could borrow and copy (a long shot I know!), then I would be eternally greatful!
Any help that anyone can give would be really appreciated as at present I don't even know where the master cylinder comes from (as it doesn't seem to be a lancia beta one).
I have attached a picture of the car in an almost finished state (prior to the retrim and wheel centres being fitted.
Thanks fall all you help.
Regards
Andrew Smith
Andrew email me at [email]micheal.pelling@tarmac.co.uk[/email] re deon 246
Can anyone help? I have a deon MIRABEAU and need the following info; front indicator and rear lights are Nissan. What model? Where does the windscreen come from? Did the SCOPERTO and the MIRABEAU share the same radiator?
Please send me a private message via the Forum or respond here if you can help.
Many thanks,
Complete newbie to the forums here but I am hoping someone might be able to help me.
Since a small child (I'm 34 now) I have always wanted to build a kit car with my father. The kit I always wanted to build was the DEON GT.
My father and me talked about it many times and due to finances, family commitements, work commitments etc, we never got round to it.
Now over the years I had popped onto the internet and had seen (and had communication with) a company (whose name escapes me now) based down in Somerset. The cars looked good etc and I was just relieved that you could still buy a fantastic Dino replica. No offence but the KARMA ones just weren't true enough to the original for my liking.
Well my father turned 65 this year and semi retired. I also bought a house with a nice big internal garage and with some finances in place, everything was in place for us to fulfill our dream (Before my dads eyesight and health fail him too much further) to build a Ferrari Dino replica.
I log onto the internet and to cut a long story short, I am both shocked and very dissapointed to find that not only has the company in Somerset gone under (Not that they were a nice company I gather from here), but NOBODY makes Dino replica kits !!
Is this true? Does anybody know what happened to the moulds? Any, and I mean ANY information a nybody can give me would be greatly appreciated.
After dreaming about building a "Dino" for 20+ years, to find out that I wont ever be able to is gutting to say the least.
With regards to going under, there are a few threads on Pistonheads complaining about a kit car firm that made Dino replicas based in Somserset that went under and quite a few people lost their money with them.
I assumed it was this classicreplicauk place because their website which I had bookmarked, was "Not found".
So are they still going and I just cant access their site for some reason (Rest of the internet works fine for me) or is it just an old site that hasn't been updated in years?
I can still get their site but cant find them in any other listing or search. Their website looked promising.... so its a pity if they've folded.
A guy has just sold his DINO replica in Australia on ebay. He mentions that he has the original mould. A long way away but thought you might be interested?
I also have a J H Classics DGT based on a Lancia Beta. You are correct in that J H Classics went out of business and Deon Cars started to make essentially the same car. I don't think Deon are around anymore but there is a company called Classic Replicas that makes a car very similar to that made by Deon.
I have a build manual that I can copy and send to you if haven't already got one.
I worked for Classic Replicas in Bridgwater Somerset until 5 weeks ago, they are still trading, not very often will you get an answer when phoning though.
All the best
Andy Bennie
Sorry for not being back to thank everyone. Been busy with home DIY and school holidays etc.
Len, thanks for your offer with the build manual. That would be great.
Andy, I have sent a few emails to them and so far haven't received a single reply to any of them. Is this normal?
Is business thriving so much that they dont need to answer peoples questions? ;0)
Hi Paul
Unfortunately the owner of the company is c--p at communicating with either phone or e.mail. all you can do is carry on trying. I take it you are not close by to Bridgwater?
Andy
Can anyone help? I have a deon MIRABEAU and need the following info; front indicator and rear lights are Nissan. What model? Where does the windscreen come from? Did the SCOPERTO and the MIRABEAU share the same radiator?
Please send me a private message via the Forum or respond here if you can help.
Many thanks,
Gordon.
I'm joining this thread a bit late I know! I too have a mirabeau. If you haven't already found them, the front indicators and (I think) the rear lights are nissan 100 nx and you can still get these at a dealer. Mine has the round lights at the rear.
I think they did share the same radiator but I used a Montego rad.
Also, Gordon, did I once buy some Deon leather seats from you in Datchet some years ago?
There is a project currently in progress to produce a completely re-engineered Replica of the Dino. The new cars will be appearing on the market in 2009. I am responsible for this and have been for the past twelve months.
I used to own a Deon, infact its problems drove me to take this project on. I have had some experience dealing with the other company in Bridgwater in the past and would like to make it clear that I have a very diffecrent way of doing things. Whilst our car and the Deon are very different beasts under the skin I'd be happy to help anyone if I can.
There is a project currently in progress to produce a completely re-engineered Replica of the Dino. The new cars will be appearing on the market in 2009. I am responsible for this and have been for the past twelve months.
We are based in South Yorkshire.
Hi.
Sounds like an interesting little project you have there.
Any details of the spec engine wise etc? Or is that staying the same?
The new car will be called a D2, we're doing the fixed roof and the spider as you'd expect. A couple of things that may come as a surprise are, the engines are longitudinally mounted Audi v6 rather than transverse and the suspension is multi-link.
The bodyshell isn't identical to the Dino but it is based on a full contour survey of an original.Whilst it wouldn't fool an expert anyone who's only ever seen pictures would be hard pressed to spot the differences.
We've still got a great deal of work to do and plenty of pitfalls no doubt lay ahead but we are aiming to have the first cars on the road next year. In the early stages we will only be offering turn-key cars so that we can control the quality and keep the numbers fairly low whilst still having enough work to make a living.
If anyone wants to know a little more or has questions about the Deon as I said in my earlier post I'll do what I can.
The prototype is well under way. The body shell is almost finished and we'll be starting mold production shortly. Our first generation chassis is waiting for the first shell to come out of the molds and no doubt when it arrives we'll need to update the chassis. Thiere isn't a website, infact we're consiously not advertising until we've got a working proto-type.
The market we are aiming for in the initial stages at least will be turn-key, factory built cars only. I'll let everyone who a bit more as soon as we can.
