GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEA – A ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION (UK) TO TKC MAG COSTS £40. CLICK HERE
TKC MAG – ONE YEAR (UK) SUBSCRIPTION – CLICK HERE
Verified unique readers per month for this website currently averages 16,979 (covering SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2025).
A very warm welcome to totalkitcar online … News from Tim Dutton this week announcing that he’ll be open for customer test drives of the all-new Phaeton 5 from early January 2026.
Another interesting snippet from Tim …
“Steve, I have noticed over the last 58 years that a respectable number of budding car designers have lived out their fantasies by using the plentiful and ubiquitous Dutton chassis and putting their own designed body on it.
“We want to encourage the next generation of designers and mechanical engineers to continue this and will, for the first time in 58 years, make available a bare Phaeton 5 chassis (priced on application) for such endeavours.” More from www.timdutton.com.
With Christmas coming you might be looking for a present for a loved one or even yourself. Here are a few great new – and recent – automotive book releases that I would thoroughly recommend … in no particular order
Whitney Straight – Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist – The History Press
A book on Whitney Straight has long been overdue. A brilliant effort on an amazing character.
Formula 3000 – Where Legends Earned Their Stripes – Evro Publishing
The mid-eighties successor to Formula 2. Lovely book tells the full story of a great championship.
The Bamford Ferrari Specials – Porter Press
The secrets of three unique Ferrari specials built for JCB chairman and car collector Lord Bamford.
Forever Young – Six Lost Talents of Motor Racing – BHP Publishing
A beautfiul book that looks at some great drivers that were taken far too early
Aston Martin – The V8 Legacy – Veloce Publishing
A lovely book that deals with exactly what it says on the tin!
Not sure where the year has gone exactly but here’s a NEW RELEASE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE – OUT NOW
Winter is coming, so welcome to the November/December 2025 issue and we have plenty of winter warmers for you.
MIDLANA – In the best traditions of the Locost or Haynes Roadster comes the plans-built Midlana. Hailing from the USA, we take a look at the UK’s first completed Midlana build, a project that is set apart by having a mid-engined configuration. This one has Alfa Romeo 3-litre V6, too.
The book is out probably towards the end of April 2026 (exact date tbc). That’s all I am allowed to say at the moment.
PERFORMANCE CLUTCHES – If you fancy upgrading your car’s clutch, this feature will tell you what to look far and what’s available.
INTRODUCING – WESTFIELD SE.NA – A new version of the classic Westfield SEi. First look with a full roadtest next issue.
GBS ZERO EV – First look at the new electric version of the GBS Zero, which as one would expect from the Nottinghamshire manufacturer. It’s a beauty and it looks just like a petrol-powered Zero, too.
EURO DIRTBAG – Lynn Park is an American car collector of real note. He owns eleven original Cobras including a barnfind called ‘Dirtbag’. Several years ago he built a replica of Dirtbag using a Hawk 289. Last year he challenged Hawk Cars’ boss Gerry Hawkridge to create a European version. As our feature proves, Gerry happily accepted the challenge. We recently caught up on progress…
JACK WEBB MOTORSPORT – Jack Webb is a genius. Since he started JWM in 2022 and he has rapidly gained a reputation for his suspension set up skills specialising in Caterham Seven, Lotus Elise, McLaren and other specialist cars. he also supplies a fine array of performance parts, too.
INDUSTRY GREATS – KEN ATTWELL AND KVA – A look at the career history of the man who devised the UK’s first GT40 replica and his company KVA.
SPARTAN TREKA EUROPEAN TOUR – TKC MAG reader Ian Fletcher went off on a wild camping trip to Spain, some 3000 miles in total in his Spartan Treka. Ian tells the story.
JEFFREY AUTOMOTIVE – A history of George Jeffrey’s sixties kitcar company. It’s quite a tale.
INTRODUCING – PRODEV ENGINEERING – Former Omex technology boss, Richard Wragg, now runs ProDev Engineering and builds performance engines. Affordable performance engines. He’s supplying his new DuraPro 2-litre to Westfield Chesil Ltd for their new Se.NA.
JAGO AT 65 – It’s an amazing 65 years since Geoff Jago produced his first car. Over the years he would go on to sell over 4000 kits. We tell his story.
NEW RELEASE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE – OUT NOW
DON’T WANT PAPER? TRY OUR DIGITAL EDITION
An EXACT replica of the paper version it currently costs just £23.99 for a TWELVE MONTHS DIGITAL subscription to TKC MAG ANYWHERE in the world. Visit Pocketmags.com and type in ‘TKC MAG’ and all will be revealed. Alternatively, you can download our APP on your mobile and download single issues or a subscription on your phone or tablet.
We are getting a lot of new subscribers on the totalkitcar YouTube channel. If you like this website, you are sure to find something you like on the ‘totalkitcar YouTube channel’? In addition to our usual monthly video upload, we now have a weekly series called the ‘totalkitcar History Files Series. The latter isn’t rocket science. We verbally look at old kitcars with photos added, but we seem to be capturing peoples’ imaginations.
As the name suggests we look at some of the classic marques, great cars, not so great cars, plus the personalities, events and designers who have graced this wonderful industry over the last 75 years.
If you don’t already subscribe to our channel (just search ‘totalkitcar YouTube Channel’ on YouTube) please do, as it’s free and if you click ‘all’ you’ll be notified every time a new video drops. Finally, may I ask you to hit the thumbs up button please as that helps the channel greatly. THANK YOU, dear reader.
totalkitcar History File Series (in association with the Enwin Motors channel). Don’t miss out, subscribe for FREE now.
Search YouTube for the ‘totalkitcar YouTube Channel’ or follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/@tkcmag.
Our popular TRACKDAY CALENDAR is where you can find out where, when and how much by CLICKING HERE. Now updated to cover DECEMBER – JANUARY 31, 2025/26.
IF YOU LIKE CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS you are in luck. Clicking that button will take you back in time with features on old kitcars, personalities and generally interesting companies who worked within the specialist car and sixties motorsport movements. I really hope you are enjoying them. Not all of them are kitcar-related per se but they all celebrate the underdog and often feature the wonderful world of sixties motorsport.
Classic Kit Cars & Specials has a new home at totalkitcar.com.
This week in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS something a little bit different as take a short but sweet look at a stunning Bentley Special called Le Sarthe, which came from marque specialists, BENSPORT. CLICK HERE to go there.
A lot of classic clubman motorsport features highlight underdog artisans that we hope will appeal to you dear reader, the sort of companies that we’ve often all heard of but on whom detailed information is often hard to find. Shorrock, Wade Turbochargers, Jack Knight Developments, Cannon Cars, Tom Killeen, David Ogle the list goes on and on. The sort of companies and individuals that our specialist and kitcar forebears from the sixties would have been very familiar with. You’ll find these subjects contained in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS.
SNIPPETS 1 ……..They keep on coming … latest kitcar resurrection to tell you about is the superb Hathaway Hunter, which originally debuted in 1975 in the USA. The car still looks very fresh to me and it was really a body conversion for any Triumph TR of 88in wheelbase, which meant TR5, TR250 and TR6. More infor when we have it.
SNIPPETS 2 ……..my-cardictionary.com, one of the leading knowledge platforms for information on vehicle parts and their relevance to safety, environmental protection and vehicle value, has undergone a comprehensive relaunch. With an average of 10,000 users per day worldwide, the platform has long been a key resource for reliable automotive knowledge – and is now even more user-friendly, modern and mobile-optimised.
The relaunch responds to a clear shift in user behaviour: an increasing number of visitors access my-cardictionary.comvia smartphone. As a result, the platform has been redesigned with a mobile-first approach, offering improved navigation, a clearer structure, faster load times and a noticeably more intuitive user experience.
“Our goal is to present technical information in a way that is accessible and easy for everyone to understand,” says Thomas Fischer, Chairman of AAMPACT e.V. “With the relaunch, we ensure that my-cardictionary.com remains a reliable and independent source of knowledge about automotive technology.”
As part of the modernisation, the structure and presentation of the content have also been revised. Hundreds of relevant expert articles – explaining how safety related components work and how they impact the environment and vehicle value — have been reorganised, visually updated and optimised for easier navigation. Users can now find the information they are looking for even faster and more conveniently.
my-cardictionary.com continues to be internationally oriented and is part of a project available in three language versions, used by readers around the world.
SNIPPETS 3 …….. SPECIAL OFFER: 12 months FREE Total Motor Assist for all totalkitcar.com readers!
Designed to plug the gaps in motor insurance, this multi-car package for you and your family sits alongside your insurance and gives you vital extra services, including:
UK-wide accident recovery
Approved accident repair
Like-for-like replacement car
Private treatment for injury
Specialist legal support
Saves you from paying any excess
Helps protect your no-claims
24/7 UK-based helpline
Trusted by thousands of members and over 150 organisations, we’re delighted to invite you to join free today at https://tkc.assistprotect.co.uk.
Now with free cycling support and property damage repair as well when you join!
So, that’s about it from me for this week, so I’ll bid you a great seven days, with plenty of enjoyable driving and I look forward to welcoming you once again next Friday – DECEMBER 12.
Best regards
Steve