A ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION (UK) TO TKC MAG COSTS £40. CLICK HERE
TKC MAG – ONE YEAR (UK) SUBSCRIPTION – CLICK HERE or click the QR code.
Verified unique readers per month for this website currently averages 17,331 (covering, JANUARY, FEBRUARY & MARCH 2026).
A welcome to totalkitcar online … Blimey, you wait 37 years for a new kit from Dutton Cars and two come along in twelve months! Following swiftly on from the excellent Phæton 5, comes the B Plus 3!
You’ll find an early sneak peek of the new car from Tim Dutton’s Skunkworks in Littlehampton. Like the Phæton 5 it is also based on Mazda MX-5 Mk3.
Tim told me: “I have managed to buy a pair of early 80’s B Plus S2 full length front wheel guards (as on blue Dutton on welcome page on timdutton.com). All we have to do now is find a way of getting those ‘open’ guards through IVA.
Another new Mazda MX-5 Mk3-based model from Grandmaster Dutton, has been announced – a reboot of another of his legendary kitcars. An early shot of the new B Plus 3
“B PLUS 3 will be available with cycle-style front wheel guards as standard and hopefully the IVA-proof full length type as an option.
“Don’t forget, as we are not exhibiting at Malvern we are offering free weather equipment with Phæton 5 and B PLUS 3 purchased during April, details on timdutton.com”
TKC MAG – MARCH/APRIL ISSUE – AVAILABLE NOW
Here’s this issue’s menu, or at least some of it.
DUTTON PHÆTON 5 – FIRST DRIVE – A brand new Phæton from Tim Dutton, 39 years after the last one. The new one is based on Mazda MX-5 Mk3 and is quite simply, great. Hard to miss in its eyecatching Lamborghini Verde Scandal lime green gelcoat.
INDUSTRY GREATS – HAYDN DAVIES AND BURLINGTON MOTOR COMPANY – We were delighted to catch up with Burlington Motor Co founder, Haydn Davies recently to talk about old times and remind ourselves just how important a marque his company was, firstly with the Sport Special traditional roadster and then the Arrow, Berretta and Chieftain plans and patterns projects. Add in some great old archive photos to round things up and it’s a winner.
CATERHAM CARS – Think Caterham Cars and the Seven and 21 will come to mind, but there has been plenty of other elements of the business over the years. We round them all up in this feature.
INTRODUCING WEATHERVELO – CYCLEV – Here’s a cool little electric three-wheeler that you can pedal but ddon’t have to? Curious. read this feature to find out more.
READER’S DRIVE – PETER VIVIAN’S MIDGE BOAT-TAIL – The JC Midge was a cracking little kitcar, another built from plans and patterns. TKC MAG reader Peter Vivian built a lovely example but after quite a few years decided that he’d like revise it to feature a boat-tail rear end. Here’s his story.
THE TKC MAG GUIDE TO SOLDERING – We all take the art of soldering for granted. An easy job to mess up, a tricky one to master. Richard Bird guides you through the process…
WACKY RACERS – A little feature looking at the first two years of the 750 Motor Club’s
KIT CAR CHALLENGE race series. It was great looking back to the mid-eighties for this one.
HUNTSMAN SPYDER – A forgotten one-off that surely deserved more success?
REMEMBERING THE TRIPLE C CHALLENGER – looking back at a classic kitcar that just happened to be a replica of the Jaguar E-type.
Hopefully, that’s plenty to entertain you with although you’ll also find regulars like book reviews, product news and more.
LATEST ISSUE OF TKC MAG – MARCH/APRIL 2026 – AVAILABLE NOW
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.
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 featured in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS.
This time in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS (click on the link and you’ll find the full list of features) we head back to the groovy sixties and a classic beach buggy, a British-designed one at that. Roland Sharman’s lovely Bugle. Like, yeah, baby, CLICK HERE to go there.
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.
Do you tube? 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 APRIL 2026.
SNIPPETS 1 …….. Although it’s not a kitcar, of course, as a fan of Eric Broadley and his Lola Cars operation, I think it is great that the ‘new’ Lola operation, under Till Bechtolsheimer (since 2022) have announced a new run of T70 MkBs, an iconic Lola model 1964 and a legendary and still beautiful sports-racer. I often daydream about having a garage containing a GT40, a McLaren M6 GT and a Lola T70 Mk3B!
Interestingly, the company isn’t calling the new one a ‘Continuation’ run (they already did that about 25 years ago) and definitely not a ‘restomod’.
Two versions of the new one will be available – T70S GT (road) and T70S (track).
Lola say that the T70 will have the world’s first natural bodywork system, being 100 per cent petro-chemical-free, called ‘Lola Natural Composite System’ (LNCS – patent pending) and in reality features natural fibres with a plant-based resin, which is produced from a byproduct of crops mixed with basalt fibres from volcanic rock.
The ‘S GT’ features a 5-litre GM LS engine producing 500bhp. With the car weighing about 890kg this equates to 616bhp per tonne! Gearbox is a five-speed Hewland LG600 unit.
Meanwhile, the track-flavoured ‘S’ version features a GM LS 376ci 6.2-litre unit producing 530bhp and a Lola-spec Hewland LG600 gearbox. It also shaves 30kg from the road car’s weight, too.
Lola claim that the car is the world’s first sustainable sportscar. The rest of the specification is as you expect pretty cool, with air conditioning as standard, plenty of magnesium components.
Prices haven’t been announced as yet but expect from £750,000. More from www.lola-cars.co.uk.
SNIPPETS 2 ……. Santa Pod Raceway is delighted to announce a new partnership to become the Main Title Sponsor of the venue’s unique ‘outlaw’ race: The DOORSLAMMERS Powered by FuelTech.
FuelTech – leading global manufacturer of motorsport electronic and engine-management systems – has already joined Santa Pod as title sponsor of the FuelTech Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship and its fearsome, 250mph ‘doorslammer’ Pro Modified cars.
FuelTech now develops that relationship by supporting Santa Pod’s unique DOORSLAMMERS race – Pro Mods and other outrageous machines racing, so to speak, ‘with the gloves off’.
‘Doorslammer’ is a popular term for full-bodied drag racing cars with working doors. ‘Outlaw’ describes a race at which the technical rules and regulations governing official championships are not applied. The DOORSLAMMERS Powered by FuelTech offers a £100,000 prize fund and racers from across Europe will do whatever it takes to carry off the cash. It’s a genuine high-performance free-for-all.
Pro Mods and their ilk are the event’s headline attraction but a range of other classes featured at The DOORSLAMMERS Powered by FuelTech includes non-V8s, front-wheel-drive and road-legal vehicles.
The DOORSLAMMERS Powered by FuelTech takes place from Friday 15th to Sunday, May 17th at Santa Pod Raceway, NN29 7XA. Tickets are bookable only online or by phone – visit https://santapodtickets.com/p/thedoorslammers or telephone the Box Office at 01234 782 828.
Full event information can be found at https://santapod.co.uk/events/doorslammers/.
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 week on Friday, April 23, 2026
Best regards
Steve