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A warm welcome to totalkitcar online … Tim Dutton is a man who always keeps a beady eye on IVA developments and he drew my attention to this one this week.
The DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) has begun authorising Vehicle Examination Facilities (VEFs) that will be able to carry out IVA and MSVA inspections/tests.
This is a significant move and represents one of the biggest shake ups to the UK’s vehicle approval system in many years and is intended to make IVA and MSVA tests more accessible for manufacturers and car builders.
New VEFs might make the journey to your IVA or MSVA test less tricky and a little more closer to home. Pic courtesy of AK Sportscars.
Rather than having to take a newly built vehicle to a traditional DVSA test centre, these new VEFs will now be able to host IVA/MSVA test examiners at their sites to conduct an official vehicle examination.
The benefits to this are many such as reducing travel time, improved location availability meaning people won’t have to travel so far for an IVA/MSVA test (or re-test) and hopefully cut down waiting times
If you run an MOT centre for example and fancy hosting a VEF at your facilty, then applications are now open. Just search: ‘authorisation of first examination facility for IVA and MSVA customers’.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW GOODS & SUPPLIERS A-Z DIRECTORY YET? See the menu bar above or CLICK HERE.
I know that lots of readers used our GOODS & SUPPLIERS listing as a guide to the specialist car aftermarket, so essential did they regard it. It needed an upgrade but it took a couple of years to get it right.
GOODS & SUPPLIERS is BACK. It’s certainly less wieldy, is easier to use and well, see what you think. It’s not yet complete by any means but is a workable and useful A-Z listing that I hope you enjoy using and check back regularly because I will be adding to it daily, almost.
CLICK HERE to BUY a copy of the new JULY/AUGUST 2026 issue of TKC MAG.
Here’s this issue’s menu, or at least some of it.
Welcome to the JULY/AUGUST 2026 issue. So, what have we got to tickle your fancy this time?
CRAFTED CLASSICS CAFÉ RACER – A visit to Suffolk-based Christopher Hamilton who runs Crafted Classics Tuning, Classic Mini restorers par excellence as well as their own beautiful restomod called the CAFÉ RACER.
INDUSTRY GREATS – LES WELLER – A man who has supplied more steel wheels than anyone else (probably) as well as being the king of Formula Ford wheel supply. This could just be the only time that his story has appeared in print.
MALVERN SHOW REVIEW 2026 – A bumper five-page review of the National KIt Car Motor Shows written by show organiser, PETE SLATER with input from STEVE HOLE
DOUG KNIGHT’S SUPER BEETLE! – A superb Beetle drag car, recently purchased by Doug Knight. He tells us about his new project.
WITHOUT OUR PAST – Another pictorial look back to the past
SYLVA PHOENIX RESTORATION – A beautiful 35 year old Phoenix that has been beautoifully restored by design technology teacher, Phil Donington.
ELVA’S SPORTS RACING CARS – People usually assume that Elva just produced the Courier model in its various generations. However, the company originally started out by producing racecars and when Frank Nichols sold the roadcar side of his business to the Trojan Group he set up Elva Racing [1961] Ltd to continue building sports racers. We round them up …
Love a Car Craft Cyclone – Adore this one
LAYCOCK DE NORMANVILLE OVERDRIVE UNIT – The story of Edgar de Normanville’s extremely popular overdrive unit.
DUTTON B PLUS 3 – Another new Dutton model, following swiftly behind the Phæton 5 is the third iteration of another very popular Dutton kit. Like its brother it’s also based on Mazda MX-5 MK3.
We have much more to entertain you with this time as well as the regulars.
Hope you enjoy the issue.
CLICK HERE to BUY a copy of the new JULY/AUGUST 2026 issue of TKC MAG.
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 week in CLASSIC KIT CARS & SPECIALS we focus on the amazing roadgoing Lotus 51R Formula Ford car of 1968 dubbed Flower Power. It was the idea of the brilliant motoring journalist, the larger-than-life Nick Brittan and his editor at Car magazine, Doug Blain, who persuaded Lotus sales manager Graham Arnold to do it, reasoning that the publicity would help Lotus shift unsold 51s. CLICK HERE to go there …
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.
DON’T WANT PAPER? TRY OUR DIGITAL EDITION
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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 JULY, AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2026.
SNIPPETS 1 …….. The first cars have been announced for this year’s Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC, Birmingham (November 13-15), the first of many more.
Found after 20 years and presumed lost is this 1991 Mazda MX-5 Le Mans Edition, one of only 24. They were built to celebrate Mazda’s Le Mans win. This example vanished from view over two decades ago. It’s just turned up and it’s currently being nursed back to health in time for the show. It’ll stand alongside four of its surviving siblings at the event…
More from www.necclassicmotorshow.com.
SNIPPETS 2 ……..To ensure drivers have easy access to premium quality bulbs, OSRAM has installed bulb cabinets into over 100 ProTyre Autocare locations across the UK.
Combined with quality and coverage, OSRAM is a brand trusted by vehicle manufacturers as their bulb of choice, and so drivers are reassured that they will see clearly with OSRAM bulbs.
This is echoed by ProTyres’ core value of ‘care gets you there’, by choosing a reliable and trusted brand, such as OSRAM for its bulb needs, ProTyres’ customers are looked after with the best products. Having the bulb cabinets installed in ProTyre Autocare branches creates a quick supply of the top eighteen bulb references, as well as a new opportunity for staff to upsell bulbs to customers when there is an issue at point of servicing or MOT.
Ring’s Senior Key Account Manager, Jack Padgett, commented: “Drivers are becoming more safety conscious with their vehicles and something as simple as replacing or upgrading bulbs can really improve a driver’s experience and confidence. Therefore, we’re thrilled to be ProTyres’ bulb of choice, especially when it’s one of the fastest expanding brands in the market and is therefore trusted by drivers. We’re pleased to support ProTyre Autocare in their venture to improve drivers’ bulb experiences.”
Richard Ord, Head of Commercial Operations at ProTyre Autocare, said: “We’re proud to partner with OSRAM on this bulb cabinet installation. There’s a lot of discussion in the media about glare and we want to reassure our customers on the reason behind glare and provide them with the best bulb for their vehicle and needs, fitted by our trained technicians. We’ve found the entire process with OSRAM easy, from our first conversation about wanting new bulb cabinet in branches, to the installation. We’ve also had positive feedback from our ProTyre Autocare staff about the quality and coverage the OSRAM range provides them, so this is a win, win for everyone.”
For more information on the full OSRAM range visit: www.osram.co.uk/am
SNIPPETS 3 …….. SPECIAL OFFER: 12 months FREE Total Motor Assist for all totalkitcar.com readers!
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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.
Loving this gorgeous recently completed STR Stratos replica by LB Specialist Cars for MGC photo by Mike G Concepts.
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, JULY 31, 2026
Best regards
Steve