Fantastic superb very period looking as it should be right up my street well done!!:eusa_angel:

Amazing Gary. You should be rightly proud :hail:

Re the pictures, you need to resize them before uploading as the current forum software doesn't do it unfortunately.

Cheers, John

In a word, WOW!

Well done, a fine looking car. Good luck with the photo shoot and order book.

Outstanding. :cool:

Great job Gary - looks very much like a slimmed down G46 to me.

Loving the exposed frame on the inside, I'd say it reminds me of a Maserati Birdcage but the welding on yours looks better.

If you use that as a demonstrator you should get some decent orders in quickly, if you choose to sell it on it should make well over £20k.

Either way, very well done on creating another great looking car. :)

Thank you ....

It has been built for a customer Towed ...I am hoping that a few sales will put me in the position of being able to build a demonstrator / car for myself and introduce another build thread as well ...which always seems to be popular.

The way prices are going and recent events ...I would say Graham's investment in this car is safe , as I think its a £25-30,000 right now and I can't see prices dropping for the forseeable ...

Wow. that looks amazing. Love the exposed framework on the doors - don't cover it up!

I think if you produce a subframe to mount to an existing kit chassis may open more markets (My brother had a Vitesse in the early 80s - not for me!). Cobra chassised Formosa with fire gargling V8 sounds very appealing but we're into IVA then. Could use sacrificial kit such as Tiger - well established and plenty of cheap already registered on the road jobs that wouldn't need all the overhauling. Bit like the Healey body that was offered for 7's for a while albeit it was way too basic.

That said top prices often depend on exclusivity...

Whatever the case - it's a winner! And I hear the GRP is pretty good too ;)

I agree Smash , variety of donors is no bad thing ..with a little tweak , it will go on a Locost chassis , it will also go on an SE5 Scimitar with a slightly bigger tweak ...The obvious Spartans , pilgrims etc are all candidates too ...thats why I changed the narrow Triumph track width by widening the bodies over 4'' in the end ..
I am happy to do the body mod and bespoke frame to go on a locost or similar , if someone brings me a chassis and orders a kit ...

Exclusivity is a luxury I cant afford right now ...

What's the tweak needed for a se5a chassis?

About a 7'' extension to the rear edge of the bonnet and the front edge of the lower wing panel , just in front of the vent ...
We can do it for a small fee , or we can supply an extra 10'' or so of the rear of the bonnet and the front edge of the lower wing for a home builder to do the graft ....its better to do it with the body in place anyway really , but can be done off ...
The wider body will be ok with SE5 track width , but not SE6 ... the bonnet may or may not need a bulge or scoop ...

Obviously the frame would need modifying , but not sure now much until we did one ..only bottom rails , would be better to supply a frame without the steel floorpans in it and reduce the price accordingly ...

A 7'' longer bonnet would look fantastic ....

How close is it to be suitable for a Scimitar ss1 chassis?

It won't go on an SS1 chassis ..they are about 83'' from memory and that would involve shortening the car around 8-9'' ...There is no where I personally feel you could do that without compromising the shape ...

...or you could try putting it on a Herald or Vitesse chassis.

I think it might fit without too much chopping and changing of the body, and you'd benefit from tax exempt status (but maybe not MOT exempt???).

Plus, as a bonus of going down that radical route, you'd also have a more characterful choice of Triumph four and six cylinder engines rather than the SS1's Ford CVH, an engine Jeremy Clarkson described back in the early 80's as '...so nasty Moulinex rejected it for its Magimix.' I had an XR3i in 1983 and he was right, it's a nasty, thrashy lump that revs ok but sends loads of vibration through the major controls and sounds like a bag of spanners being rattled.

If anyone's worrying about the way an old Herald chassis handles, don't. My Spyder was on a Mk1 Vitesse base with swing axles at the back and, with all new bushes, bearings, shocks and suitably softened springs, it handled very well on the road. Shedding 350 kilos of steel bodywork and lowering the centre of gravity made for a very sweet handling package.

Phil J's old no.2 is built on a Courier van chassis upgraded to Rotoflex rear suspension, and about two years ago his car lapped a race track in exactly the same time as a Porsche 911, and that was before he gave his engine another 60 or so bhp.

Build one of Gary's latest creations on a Herald or Vitesse chassis, soften the suspension and give the engine a straight through exhaust and the car will put a huge smile on your face every time you drive it. What more do you want?

Looks beautiful

Went to see this today. Well done Gary and Glan, it's an impressive thing in the GRP/metal. Much wider than I expected and with a great deal more presence than a Sammio - it sits on it's wheels much better. I hadn't realised that the engine has been relocated back, this is a great improvement. Glad to see the original Vitesse DHC that was intended to be a donor has been given a reprieve, too.

THANK YOU ...I took a customer across today late morning to have a look ...shame we missed each other .

Mark fired her up whilst we were there and she sounded great ...back tomorrow to me and hopefully in for an MOT ...

Well she went in for MOT ....We didn't pass but its nothing too serious ...

We had an earthing fault on the headlights ...a recurring one thats now fixed ...
An indicator that suddenly refused to work on the front ...fixed.
A tail light that likes to flicker on and off due to a crap connector plug.
A very slight weep on a front brake pipe ...fixed.
A low reading on the handbrake because some knob ..(me) didn't re-adjust it up before the test ...fixed.

So just the rear light to deal with from an MOT point of view ...

It means I didn't get time to do the niggle jobs for Graham to get the car for tomorrow ...I need to go and get the headlight covers , black the rims and fit the thread-sert rubber bush things to hold them on with M4 panheads.
Fit the seatbelts ...a 62 Chassis enabled me to MOT without them.
fit some inner arch panels to stop Graham getting wet ..
fix the grille in a bit better , the drive down highlighted a flex in the middle ...the drive down also highlighted a rattly door latch I need to adjust ...
I want to fit rubber trim around the bonnet aperture and a piece of U section at rear of cockpit to stop seat belt chafe when fitted ...
but really thats kind of it ... a couple of hours today , a couple tomorrow and a couple when the rubber trim and headlight lenses arrive and we are there ...

The only other thing the drive to MOT highlighted is that the car is a joy to drive ..pretty responsive , plenty of room compared to its cousins and an absolute blast ...

Graham should be taking ownership by mid week at the latest ....

Fantastic well done

It will be great to see it on a full outing on the road.

n.b. Do I detect a hint of excitement about the arrival of the rubber ware?

Hoping to do a short driving video on way back from MOT ...

Who wouldn't get excited about rubber ware that prevents chafing ?

Haha��

This is my first post. Just seen this car on Fleabay and wanted to know more. So good old Google led me here. I've always been interested in Kitcars since building a Jago Geep while still at college in the late 70's.
This car looks fantastic so I think I'll be on the lookout for a Vitesse donor car.
But I have to ask... are the Brake and Clutch master cylinders the wrong way around? My GT6 has large master cylinder for the brakes. Or is there a reason for this on the Formosa?

Well spotted! The bigger reservoir is to allow for the fluid transferred into the calipers when the brake pads wear.

TECHNICALLY THEY ARE YES ...I put them that way round when we were speculating space under a sloping bonnet whilst shaping things up and not knowing what we were going to do regarding bracing , bulkhead etc.... They just kind of got left like it as it all works well and didn't feel the need to change it back ...

Welcome to the forum by the way ...any questions , please feel free to email me direct on formosa120gr@gmail.com

Here's a picture taken today on the way back from it's successful MOT pass .....

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/...ormosa1004.jpg

Congrats! Well done.

Looks great

Fantastic looking house ....do I remember the Dooster outside a fancy house at sometime on your old website ?

I did do a whole series of photo's several years ago of '32 Ford Roadsters outside various Art Deco houses locally , yes ......
There are some really great houses in Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks areas of Poole ...

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/.../intro_pic.jpg

Straight 6 soundtrack is perfect

That's the house I remember

CAR WENT TODAY ...Graham just mailed me to say hes been out playing ....
I really hated seeing this one go ....

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Graham for being the perfect customer ...Allowing me to control the build and develop the kit along the way was just incredibly generous ...
Thank you ...and enjoy her , shes gorgeous ....

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/...1/IMG_1010.jpg

Excellent! Super job on the work. Next time I'm around I'll have to drop in at Poole. I usually stay with a friend in Lymington. I would give sufficient warning. Would be nice to meet you!

As Gary said I have taken delivery today of the car and its absolutely stunning, great to drive and couldnt be happier, huge thanks to Gary and Glan for all their hard work its been an absolute pleasure working with him and his dedication to the build.Hopefully he will get plenty of orders, if any one wants to come to see what its like you would be more than welcome

Cheers
Graham

Gary - Congratulations on getting the car on the road. :cool:

I also think you might have accidently stumbled on a way of getting a great price for future builds…
- Pull up upside the millionaire mansions in Sandbanks.
- Press the intercom, as I assume the gates are locked.
- If anyone is actually home, ask if they mind if you photo your car next to their house.
- They quickly realise that their luxury house could do with another luxury car in the garage.
- Job done.

:icon_wink:

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Alex – Hi Graham,

It would be great if you could start an ‘On the road’ thread.

That way, you could post some more photos of the car as you are out enjoying it.

I know the summer is over, but I was surprized how often I got out in my car last winter.

I hope to make the most of it this winter too, especially as I know have a working heater.
( As driving around when the temperature was dropping to zero was ‘challenging’. :eek: )

Enjoy, Paul. :)

That's a fricken nice looking motor - really looks the part.

Well done Gary and client on a great partnership approach. The results speak for themselves.

Dave

Totally agree ... Having a customer that gave me a free-ish rein and having the faith in me to build something that looked correct , with decisions often being mutually agreed on straight away , was so refreshing ....

Grahams attitude to the finances was great as well ... '' Don't take the pi$$ but don't starve yourself '' is an arrangement that worked well also ...end result , I earnt wages and paid my overheads without fleecing him and Graham got a car that I value at about 30% more than it cost .....

WIN -WIN ...