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Welcome to totalkitcar online …
A very warm welcome to totalkitcar online …I was looking through the archive this week while working on another feature. Don’t tell anyone but I look in my archive every day! I’m proud of having such an in-depth and huge archive, and even after all these years I still enjoy finding out about stuff every time I delve into it.
Anyway, I found a folder that had fallen down the back of its cabinet and was marked ‘Original Ultima photos’. I knew what was going to be in there, I was there and around the scene when Lee Noble unveiled his original Ultima prototype, but it was good to be reminded. What did amaze me was that the Ultima marque is 43 years old in 2026.
He really is a supercar genius too! If you haven’t got a copy you should get one. It’s a great read.
Although Lee sold the project to Ted Marlow in 1992 and the two incarnations of the marque were very different with Lee promoting his baby as a racecar that could be used on the road, whereas Ted always promoted the roadcar market, with car that could be used on track as highlighted by his son, Richard in the noughties destroying a succession of world records, albeit unofficially.
The current Ultima rangetopper, the RS, is a beautiful supercar that just happens to be available in kit form. It shares the family resemblance with Lee’s prototype, but is a very different car.
Talking of Richard, he’s been in charge for many years now and under his guidance the company continues to fly high and have a very healthy order book. Visit www.ultimasports.co.uk.
Ultima MD, Richard Marlow
TKC MAG – MARCH/APRIL OUT NOW
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 pay tribute to the late David Ogle DSC MBE and the work of his Ogle Design company. CLICK HERE to go there.
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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 MARCH-APRIL 2026.
SNIPPETS 1 ……. Brooklands Museum is delighted to announce that its celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Britain’s first Grand Prix are being supported by the prestigious Royal Automobile Club.
Back in 1926, the Royal Automobile Club was the driving force behind bringing international car racing to the UK in what proved to be a landmark event in British motorsport history.
Now, 100 years later, a special centenary celebration will take place at the historic Brooklands circuit in Surrey on Saturday 8 August 2026 with an anticipated 100 Grand Prix cars from all eras on display and action. This milestone occasion additionally will honour the Royal Automobile Club’s role not only in establishing Grand Prix racing in the UK but also as the official organiser of that original, pioneering event.
The seminal 110-lap Grand Prix of the Royal Automobile Club was staged on a special 2.61-mile layout of the famous oval circuit. Sections of the banked track were included, as well as the Finishing Straight on which two temporary sandbank chicanes were installed either side of the refuelling pits.
The race – round four of the five-round 1926 World Manufacturers’ Championship – was won by a Delage shared by French drivers Robert Sénéchal and Louis Wagner, with Malcolm Campbell upholding British honour by finishing second in his Bugatti.
Although only nine cars took the start and just three finished, the advent of Grand Prix racing in the UK was hailed as a great success.
“Brooklands and the Royal Automobile Club deserve especial congratulation,” reported The Autocarmagazine at the time. “The whole affair was splendidly organised, the car parks most efficient, and the score boards and numerous loudspeakers made it possible for the crowd to understand exactly what was happening.”
Members of the Royal Automobile Club were given exclusive access, too. They were permitted entry to the paddock and were able to watch the action from the exclusive Members’ Hill, giving them views of practically the whole circuit.
Marking this joint milestone, the Royal Automobile Club has given the 1926 race pride of place on its 2026 membership card. A special anniversary display will also form part of the Club’s Concours at its Woodcote Park estate on Wednesday 8 July, followed later in the year by a curated showcase of cars and memorabilia at the Pall Mall clubhouse.
Celebrations will culminate at the St James’s Spectacle on Pall Mall on 31 October. Returning the compliment, the Club will have a special presence back at Brooklands for the eagerly-anticipated Grand Prix Celebration.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Royal Automobile Club’s support for this very special centenary celebration,” said Alex Patterson, Chief Executive of Brooklands Museum. “The 1926 race was a defining moment not just for Brooklands but for the development of international motor racing in the UK, and it is fitting that we commemorate it together with the organisation that helped make it happen.”
The Club will also be honouring the centenary with an example of the 1926 race winning Delage taking pride of position in the organisation’s Pall Mall clubhouse
I find myself transfixed by the latest limited edition hyper from McLaren. It’s called the W1 and costs from £2m. Photo by MrWalkr
“Brooklands holds a unique place in the story of British motorsport, and the Royal Automobile Club is proud to have played such a pivotal role in bringing Britain’s first Grand Prix to life in 1926,” said Duncan Wiltshire, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club.
“To return a century later to celebrate that historic moment alongside Brooklands is both an honour and a powerful reminder of how far the sport has come since those pioneering days.”
Although times have changed, the club still retains its close relationship with the British Grand Prix, notably as its much-coveted gold trophy is presented annually to the race winner on the victory podium at Silverstone.
Tickets for the Brooklands Grand Prix Celebration are now available via the official website: www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Adult admission is priced at £39.95 in advance, with tickets for accompanied children aged 4 to 17 (under 4s are free) available at £19.95.
Brooklands Members are able to purchase tickets to an exclusive VIP Preview evening on the Friday and are offered Saturday admission for £19.95 (child £9.95) – a special price that includes an official programme.
Early booking is strongly advised as record numbers of tickets have already been purchased for what is expected to be a truly outstanding – and sell-out – occasion.
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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 GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2026
Best regards
Steve