The First McLaren Road Car (and it's replicas)

Bruce McLaren wasn't just an incredible racing driver, but a great engineer in his own right and his name lives on in the McLaren race and road cars.

Many think the incredible McLaren F1 designed by Gordon Murray and built by the current regime was the first McLaren road car, but there was one way back that is incredibly beautiful and has inspired several magnificent replicas.

The original McLaren M6a was a racing car built by Bruce McLaren and his Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team to replace the teams M1B's in the American Can Am series. In 1967 this Chevrolet powered machine brought the team their first of several Can Am series championships.

When the M6a was replaced by the M8a for the 1968 season, McLaren and technical partner Trojan developed the M6B as a customer car for other teams in Can Am and other racing series.

The M6 name resurfaced again as the M6GT, a closed-cockpit racing prototype for the Le Mans 24 Hours and other endurance races.

However, the homologation process for the FIA's Group 4 regulations wasn't completed and McLaren and Trojan were left with a handful of prototypes on their hands.

Two cars were converted to road cars, and one of those became Bruce McLaren's own personal transport.

There the story could have ended and the car slip into the annals of history as a forgotten nearly car, but in 1973 brothers Brad and Tim LoVette founded Manta Cars with the Mirage, which looked a little like the M6,but by the late 70's they brought the Montage to Market, which was a stunning M6GT replica.

It even became a TV star being used in the action series Hardcastle and McCormick, which drilled it into my youthful memory as it did for many others.

About 1000 Mirage and Montage kits were sold by 1986 when the company folded, but by then UVA in the UK had become an agent before continuing to develop their own version.

A composite monocoque centre tub with steel subframes front and rear and power provided by the classic Rover small block V8. While not matching the power and performance of the original McLaren M6 it certainly made the right noises and didn't shame it's inspiration. Inside was more luxurious with leather being adopted by most of the few builders who completed one before UVA too went out of business.

These were probably the closest replica to the McLaren original however and are now sought after classics in their own right.

Yet again though this wasn't the end of the story. Tornado, a kit car manufacturer from the UK brought out their own M6 look-alike. At first it bore little more than a passing resemblance to the original M6GT, but evolved gradually to look closer to it's inspiration.

Under the beautifully moulded bodywork is a spaceframe chassis with double wishbone suspension front and rear.

I was lucky enough to be taken for a ride in one by Bas from The Kit Car Collection in The Netherlands. Again powered by a Rover V8 producing in the region of 200 bhp driving through a Renault transaxle, just like the Lotus Esprit!

If you'd like to come for a ride in this lovely car click on this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmqQGLeJ5k

Do check out the other videos on the channel and to see the new videos first and help us to make more click on www.patreon.com/Enwin

(All pictures lifted from the internet are used with no knowledge of copyright and can be removed if requested. All links are my own and are placed here by myself)

Going off the Rails

The VW Beetle, designed in the 1930's produced since 1946 and a cult car since the 1960's has been the basis of many trends and forms of motorsport.

You could argue Porsche started it all off with the 356, but the Americans really diversified the potential first with the beach buggy, imitated around the World including various designs here in the UK.

Initially they were found to be great for what they were designed for, hooning around on beaches and in sand dunes, but it became clear that the lighter bodies enhanced the Beetles already impressive ability off road and racing in the deserts suddenly became a thing.

As well as the buggies, modified Beeltes with wild fibreglass bodywork, exposed engines and often boasting wild rear wings competed and took their name from the Baja desert on the Mexican border where they made their name. Again versions of these Baja bugs came to Europe, with companies such as Albar in Switzerland, and UVA in the UK among others selling their versions.

Motorsport being what it is the limitations in weight and innovation moving boundaries, led to the invention in America of sand rails. Replacing the Beetle floorpan completely with a steel tube frame incorporation a roll cage as part of the cage around the driver and trick suspension these lightweight wonders proved as adept in gloopy mud as they were in the desert, and again made their way around the World.

In the UK Kingfisher Kustoms were the first to bring a sand rail to market with their Kommando, but UVA soon followed in 1984 with their own interpretation the Fugitive 2 amid accusations from Kingfisher Kustoms of it being a direct rip off of their design.

Regardless the Fugitive seemed to be the winner in the sales war and a new short dirt track racing format developed where they could fight it out for honours, incorporating huge yumps where these crazy machines could get seriously airborn.

The fugitive proved to be UVA's most successful product and the company explored new variations to increase the appeal. First came an extended four-seater, the Fugitive 4. It didn't find the same number of buyers as the 2 but certainly opened the door for the variation I love and covet most...

Alan Arnold of UVA had already started importing the Manta Mirage McLaren M6 replica from the United States. The McLaren was a road going version of their incredible Can Am racers, and must have been an influence on the new Fugitive variant.

Taking the extended Fugitive 4 frame and dispensing with the rear seats, UVA reversed the gearbox to make a mid mounted engine layout. The frame was certainly strong enough to take more power, so they dropped in a Rover V8 cooled by side mounted radiators from a VW Golf and fed by side straked intakes reminiscent of the Ferrari Testerossa.

The first version kept the cycle wings and pointy nose of the rest of the Fugitive range, but that soon made way for a fully enclosed front end fitting perfectly with the name it was given The UVA F33 Can-Am!

With lowered suspension, pop up headlights and all pretence at off-road ability clearly absent, this was a road or race track machine and wonderfully, fantastically wall poster breathtaking! This is surely what the best kit cars are all about and fills the brief of producing cars no mainstream manufacturer could even contemplate.

Performance figures were a claimed 150mph top speed and 0-60 in the 4 second bracket. It's impossible to verify, but the light weight and shape screamed speed and they must have been very rapid indeed!

Sales figures are unknown, but if anyone out there knows an owner get in touch, we would love to film a feature for The Alternative Car Show. Leave a message below and we'll set something up.

Please do check out Enwin's Motors to see our videos and if you want to see videos first and be a big part of helping us make these programmes possible please check out www.patreon.com/Enwin

(All photo's in this blog are lifted from the internet without any intention of harming copyright. If you own the rights to any pictures used and want them removed we will be happy to do so.)

A Blast from the past... Albar Sonic

With the National Kit Car Show 2017 in Stoneleigh fast approaching and plans to film the first Episode of The Alternative Car Show from there I thought I'd post something from the golden age of kit cars.

Back in the 1970's the kit car industry mainly consisted of designs surviving from the 1960's, beach buggies, a few 1930 style roadsters and the lightweight Caterham Seven and its cheaper impersonators from the likes of Dutton with the B-Plus and Malaga, which merged to become the Phaeton. 

It was also an era when some pretty wild designs stood out like concept cars on the road. They may not have been as polished as the concepts from the Italian design houses, but stood out on the road even if their performance flattered to deceive with VW Beetles and Mini's providing the running gear for most of these weird and wonderful machines.

King of these exotics was the Nova designed by Richard Oaks which found it's way around the World in various guises and is till on sale in a much developed form as the Sterling in the USA, but that is a story for another day.

What set Alois Barmettler and his Albar company apart was that he didn't produce kits in the UK or USA but in Switzerland. This is a land of mystery so far as the car enthusiast is concerned and they have form when it comes to outrageous specialist designs with that other bastion of automotive madness Sbarro.

Albar started out as a VW specialist offering dune buggies and other performance off road kits and parts, but in 1978 he launched an attractive coupe design called the Jet, with styling cues giving a hint of Lamborghini Espada about it he had an entry into the exotic kit arena.

If the Jet wasn't exotic enough the company went all out concept crazy with their next product. Launched in 1982 the Sonic looked mid engined and was guaranteed to get the owner noticed. The front was a wedge with a flap in early examples in the middle flipped down to reveal a bank of headlamps while the rear

 featured light units from the Porsche 928. Exotic stuff! The VW running gear of early examples meant the wheels sat well within the wheel arches giving a strange top heavy aspect to the proportions. Yet no-one could deny 

that it was striking and it came to the UK via an importer alongside the Jet to an excited reception from the kit car press.

In time the spaceframe chassis became available with VW inline four cylinder engines or Renault 25 alternatives, but it never became the Countach rival the looks promised, although a fixed head coupe version became available as well to add year round practicality.

I have no idea, unfortunately, how many were produced or if any examples still survive. If there is at least one still out there the World is a better place for the addition of such a wonderfully wacky design bringing pleasure to anyone who claps eyes on it.

If anyone who reads this knows where there is one still on the road we;d love to hear from you in the comments below and we'll definitely come and film the car for The Alternative Car Show. In fact we want to hear from anyone with a unique car, be it a kit, custom or low volume car.

Meantime go onto Youtube and subscribe to our Enwin's Motors channel to see more cars that will surprise and delight you. Also check out www.patreon.com/Enwin where you can help be part of our adventure and get to see new features and programmes before anyone else as well as some extras as well.

There's more on Twitter @EnwinsMotors and Facebook and there will be lots of news including the most glamorous, gorgeous presenters joining us.

Enwin's Motors

First of all, apologies for neglecting my blog for way too long. There's a lot to catch up on.

Fist up I have created not one but two youtube channels, but work has begun on posting videos for the first, Enwin's Motors which focuses mainly on motoring and travel programmes.

The videos will be split into four main series. Enwin's Motors will focus on our cars. Updates on our motors and project cars.

We will also go on road trips and post videos on those, and a future blog will cover last years road trip to Sweden. There will be many more road trips to come for travel fans.

The other main new series will be The Alternative Car Show which will be as alternative as it sounds. Featuring specialist cars, low volume cars, kit cars, hot rods, and even the specialist cars from major manufacturers such as BMW's i3 and i8, Nissan's Leaf... well you get the picture. We'll also bring lifestyle features such as off-roading, green laning, track days... So all the fun stuff, basically. Also all the stuff the mainstream motoring programmes won't do.

Anyway, never mind me TELLING you about the programmes why not click on the link below.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCYRT4HuKXl5eEtpyVq9IwpQ

In case you're wondering where the Alternative Car Show is we're filming the first episode at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show on May 1st. We even have a super glamorous presenter coming and there's more... but we'll come back to that in a bit.

If you want to see the latest public episodes subscribe clicking the box below the videos saying... subscribe. Click on the like button too and leave a little comment and let us know what you think.

There is an even quicker way to see the videos first... but I'll come to that a little later...

Those wishing to keep up to date can like our new Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/EnwinsMotors where I'll also post the links to all the videos I post, as I will on the Twitter page @EnwinsMotors

We are going to fund all this using crowd funding. In order to invest in better cameras, presenters and to make more programmes we are relying on enough people to support us through www.patreon.com/Enwin and please click on the link and take a look.

There are three levels of support that people can offer, $1 a month, $3 a month or $10 a month. There are special rewards to thank our supporters. All patrons can see the videos a few weeks before they go public. $3 a month supporters get the above plus a few exclusive short features. $10 patrons get all that plus an occasional exclusive programme, which could be an extended version of The Alternative Car Show or a completely unique programme.

Every so often we will have an exclusive additional thank you. For example right now we have some Enwin's Motors pens for $3 patrons and Mugs plus pens for $10. First come first served while stocks last. Just leave a message on Facebook or Twitter to claim once you've made your pledge.

Plus we have an even more exclusive thank you for the first 5 patrons who say hi to me at Stoneleigh we'll have goody bags including a T-Shirt, pen and mug. First come first served, but you must complete your pledge before April 30th so I can take a list of patrons with me for verification.

Enjoy the programmes and please, please, please check out www.patreon.com/Enwin you really can make a massive difference and be part of something very special.

Long Time

I thought I ought to post something to prove I'm still alive.

Fear not dear friends, I have just been having computor problems, but I shall return with news and other wonders very shortly

Book Update 2015

2015 promises to be a great year and an important one for me. Some of you may have noticed that my previous high output of books has tailed off a little bit of late. This isn’t anything to worry about. It is all part of the plan, and there are two very good reasons for the tail off.

I always intended to get a few different books out there to give new readers something else to come back to if they enjoy one of my books. It’s a little lighter on the comedy titles than intended, but these are the more complicated and difficult to write.

However, the plan was always to pause and concentrate for a while on marketing to get my books known. This isn’t just using social media, although you will have noticed more activity from me, but also by getting involved in book signings, for which I am also arranging merchandise, including these Eva T-Shirts.

So what about the books?

Religious Pursuits

My first title and dedicated to my little Emily, is Religious Pursuits. A comedy novel very much in the Tom Sharpe mould which tells the story of a village policeman who sees his world fall apart after an accident and the village change forever as incompetent detectives, the paparazzi and even the army descend upon them with hilarious results.

Wicked Perspectives (Red Edition and Black Edition)

This was my first erotic title, and the eagle eyed among you will notice that the two versions have different authors and slightly different prices. It IS the same book, but there are subtle differences inside. The black edition has links and samples from other erotic authors, as do all the I. T. Heurtze books. All my future self published erotic titles will be I.T Heurtze books by the way to differentiate my titles more.

Wicked Perspectives is a collection of erotic short stories based either on real events, or in the majority of cases story requests from girls about their fantasies. This book puts you in the role of the lead lady and you experience everything she does in delicious detail!

I am looking now at story ideas to start work on Volume Two, and if any of you are brave enough to tell me your fantasies you might find you influence the contents.

Ages of Sin

The clue is in the title, but again is an anthology of short stories focusing on the theme of age differences. Not just older guys with younger girls, but more imaginative and there is a cougar on the loose here too!

The Young Wife

This novella came about after a brief but very strange chat with a bloke on a chatroom when I couldn’t sleep and boredom had kicked in. What if the guy got what he was looking for? Well I make sure there are a few surprising twists along the way to keep you turning the pages.

Bollywood Nights

This is my first novella published by a publisher, and thanks to House of Erotica for having faith in me. Currently only available as an ebook, but if enough people say they want me to I shall get it released as a paperback in time for summer.

It is a completely made up story, but came after I promised my friend and real Bollywood Star Bhairavi Goswami a story set in India, and behind the scenes in Bollywood. Thus the book is dedicated to my gorgeous friend, and you should take time to check out her films and comedy sketches posted on her Youtube channel BhaGoTV.

Bollywood Nights tells the story of Prya a rising star in Bollywood and her adventures of a passionate nature after meeting a mysterious English man.

So that’s most of my books and you will find all the above except Bollywood Nights at my first book signing event of the year in March, The Orchard Book Club #PeterboroughAuthorEvent2015

You can find links to all my Neil Winnington books on my Twitter page @NeilWinnington or using the following link...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neil-Winnington/e/B00CMRJZ46/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1383043887&sr=1-2-ent

...and the I.T. Heurtze books on the following link...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00FILVC8U

Of course I will be taking some books, but if you want to ensure a copy of your favourite title let me know by pre-ordering using the link below…

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QlhcXwLuWxM87mVT7LqzHlHvb3PQo-A47C9FlBPRE5U/viewform?usp=send_form

To round things off, there will be announcements to follow about other book signing events I shall be attending. All to be confirmed, but the other reason I alluded to earlier for the reduction in output is that I am helping a very special lady called Amanda China to write her own first novella called Bruna.


It is a very steamy erotic story and I don’t need to give any plot away to convince you just how sexy this tale of a lustful Brazilian girl who uses men as disposable pleasure toys will be. Amanda isn’t disappointing, and she just sent this pic of Ipanema Beach which features in chapter two to give you a flavour of the locations.

So 2015 will be a major year and I hope to meet as many of you as possible at book signings in the coming couple of years or so.

Living with a Quantum Saloon Part One

Back at the end of the last Millennium (come on... It wasn't THAT long ago!) I produced the Worlds first TV series dedicated to kit cars or custom cars, pre-dating The Cars the Star by a year, and we're STILL the only magazine show to drive and review them.

The kit car market has been squeezed from its diverse heights in the 1980's back to it's strongest sales areas of track day cars and replicas as the major manufacturers have entered more and more niches. So what has become of the practical alternatives the industry used to offer up?

Recently I decided to look at how some of the cars we covered have held up in second hand values, and was shocked when I visited the Quantum Owners Club website to find how cheap the Saloons have become.

Before I go on, you can see our report on the car in part two of this episode (and all the Kits 'n' Cruisin episodes can be found on the Men and Motors youtube channel) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bq55oBbYyJg

To put this in perspective, Quantum were (and are) at the zenith of the high quality kits lifting the industry reputation and designed with real engineering flair. The saloon was a composite monocoque, essentially replacing the bodyshell of a Mk2 Ford Fiesta with a more stylish and stronger shell that wouldn't rust.

Most saloons benefitted from XR2 running gear, making them quicker than their donors, and a combination of lighter weight and subtle changes to the suspension geometry meant better handling too, while losing none of the practicality of the donor car... In fact the interior re-used the dashboard, seats and door panels from the Fiesta, so you were essentially sitting in a production car interior.

The saloon body added even more strength as well as a bigger boot, so if anything a Quantum is even more practical than the donor Fiesta.

It's aged well too! Look at the car in these photo's... Does it look 19 years old? Most people I have asked in a non scientific straw pole also thought it is worth £5000, £6000 or £7000 yet this engineer built example, with a factory fitted sunroof and interior was for sale on the Quantum Owners Club website for £1,200!

At the same time Robin Hoods, Dutton Pheatons and other two seaters, which don't match the Quantum for quality are selling for £3-5000 because people are looking to kits for track day use, and ignoring the more practical designs.

I was so shocked I told my Father, cursing my luck for not having the funds to buy the car before it probably gets sold, but he too thought it was ridiculously cheap and decided to buy it for himself.

It was always our intention to do running reports on the kits we were building as the series went on, but it wasn't to be, so this I suppose is my chance to put that right, and we really are putting our money where our mouths are... or at least the old fella is.... For now, I am an interested if slightly guilty bystander.

The club put us in touch with the owners son, who was very concerned about finding the right owner for the car. Once satisfied with my Kits 'n' Cruisin credentials, he put me in touch with his father and I in turn introduced my father and they arranged a test drive.

It was then that Alan, who built this excellent example explained that recently some younger car "enthusiasts" had started buying these rare kit cars to scrap them and use the mechanicles to restore Fiestas!!! I commented along the lines of they probably go into art galleries with Stanley knives too!

He also seemed relieved that we genuinely loved the car, and the deal was done, and today I went back to collect the car for the old man.

First impressions back up my memories of the car. These things are much stronger than most steel monocoque cars due to their composite construction (70% stiffer per KG than steel) and you can feel that rigidity on the road. It's hard to explain, but you just feel it.

The CVH engine, which was always a gruff little engine growls through a sports exhaust, and compared to a modern hatch with so much sound deadening material you can barely hear anything you do realise you're in a car from another era. The same applies to the gearbox and non assisted steering, but I prefer the latter anyway because this car really does communicate through the helm like no modern hatch does.

You can still hold a conversation inside, and if you wanted you could always fit sound deadening material yourself. I like the car as it is personally.

It feels completely stable in cross winds, and trucks fail to blow this featherweight off line too, so you really could enjoy a long run, although adults would feel a bit claustrophobic in the back.

I was under strict instructions from owners old and new to take it easy as the car had not been run much recently, so I really did take it easy, and stuck to motorways. I rarely ventured past 65 miles an hour except to overtake fueding artic's, and I noticed the car came together and settled down even more around 70-ish. As time goes on I could comment more, but all the signs are good for this rust free classic kit to last another 19+ years with us!

So every so often I will post an update on living with the Quantum, to show that there really is no reason why it wouldn't make a good alternative to a family wanting a strong, safe and distinctive car. I have also asked Alan, who built the car to write a guest blog on what it had been like living with it for the first 19 years.

Watch this space and you never know there may be more announcements to come... The number of looks the car got driving back... IF I put my Amazon author page on the side.... Hmmm I need to think carefully how I could sell that idea to the old fella haha!

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