Minari Engineering Ltd. was a Limited company based in Staffordshire, UK. They manufactured two vehicles, the Minari Club Sport (otherwise known as the Mk1), and the Minari Road Sport (otherwise known as the Mk2). They specialised in producing the components required to build cars based upon the Alfa RomeoAlfasud and 33 running gear, with bodies mainly constructed from GRP. These could either be purchased in Kit form or through a build agent, Chameleon Cars. Around 130 Mk2 kits were sold before production finally stopped in 2000.
Minari Engineering Ltd. produced two different vehicles during their tenure.
The Mk1 Club Sport
The Mk1 Club Sport was Minari Engineerings first production kit. The chosen donor car was the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, this was primarily chosen due to the large number of Alfasuds being scrapped due to corrosion, but still having well functioning drive trains. Only 13 Mk1 cars were produced, and not all of them were finished or road registered. The Mk1 cars had extremely shallow doors, made so by the deep sills designed to keep the monocoque rigid. The boot aperture opened to the rear of the car, making access challenging for larger items. The bonnet opened forward as one piece, enabling good access to the engine bay.
The headlights and windscreen were taken from a Citroen AX, along with a Ford Transit windscreen seal. The bonnet hinges are from the rear doors of a Land Rover Series III Safari and the rear lights are from an Alfasud Sprint.
The Mk2 Road Sport (RS)
Minari RoadSport with Massey Ferguson/Ring Automotive headlightsMinari RoadSport with Mazda Headlights
The Mk2 Road Sport was an evolution of the Mk1 design. The cars featured the same engine and suspension fitment (donated from an Alfasud or 33), with an improved monocoque structure and updated styling. Whereas the Mk1 Club Sport utilised the Alfasud rear lights, the Mk2 used Mazda 121 (1991-1998) rear lights, and Mazda MX-3 headlights. There was an option to utilise fibreglass shrouds and install main/dip beam headlights from a Massey Ferguson tractor (Massey part number 1672766M91) and Main-beam only lights by Ring Automotive (Ring part number BRL056), which some owners opted for.
The doors on the Mk2, whilst still shallow compared to most cars, were dropped further into the sill line to enable improved entry and egress to and from the vehicle, particularly when fitted with a roof. The Mk2 cars offered a hardtop option that had not been available on the Mk1's.
Whereas the boot on the Mk1 opened towards the rear of the car, the Mk2's opened in a more conventional fashion. As part of the improved monocoque design, an additional bulkhead had been added between the passenger cabin and boot space, meaning that the boot was substantially smaller on the Mk2 cars. The dashboard was also revised, and came in two forms depending upon which donor car was opted for. The Alfasud-based cars had a dashboard which came down and around the gear shifter and mated with the transmission tunnel. The Alfa 33 based cars had a more flat and up-to-date looking dashboard design.
The Mk2 retained use of the Citroen AX windscreen and Land Rover bonnet hinges, but opted for the door catches from a Fiat Panda. The external door release is embedded into the side body panel to the rear of the door as opposed to the door itself, making new entrants to the car occasionally somewhat confused.
The Mk2 Road Sport Racing (RSR)
The Mk2 Road Sport Racing was a light weight version of the Road Sport, manufactured with the following modifications:
Removal of Windscreen and A pillars
Doors bonded into body shell
Removal of Windows
Small fly screen fitted
Removal of superfluous items such as boot latches and interior trim
Ultra light-weight bonnet & boot lid fitted as standard
Of the four RSR's manufactured, three were made of Fibreglass and one was made of Carbon Fibre. This is the only Minari known to have been manufactured from Carbon Fibre.
Assembly
The Minari cars were designed to be self assembly kits completed by the customer and then registered with the DVLA, however after significant demand from customers a third party assembly company called Chameleon Cars was contracted to build turnkey cars. Donor cars were either supplied by the customer or sourced by Chameleon.
Later on turn key cars or unfinished projects could be built by a company called Arden Automotive, the build agent for the Murtaya.
Evolution
As the source of donor Alfa Romeo's was drying up, investigations began into other vehicles that could be used as a donor. The obvious option was the Subaru Impreza as it also sported a flat-4 engine layout. The standard Minari, being front wheel drive, did not have a suitably sized transmission tunnel to accommodate the Subaru gearbox, and thus modifications were required. The project culminated in the production of the Delfino Feroce.
The Minari Engineering company eventually folded as the founders moved on to do different things. The tooling, moulds, and production rights of the Mk2 Road Sport were sold to Adrenaline Motorsport Limited who at the time were looking at evolving the work that had been completed on the Delfino Feroce. Having analysed the design of both the Minari Mk2 and the Delfino Feroce, they decided that a significant re-design was in order, and after some significant development effort the Murtaya was born.
Ownership
The Minari Mk2 Road Sport production rights, tooling, and moulds were sold in 2011 to Paul Featherstone-Harvey of Peninsula Sports Cars. Peninsula continued to offer Minari kits for sale, and also offered spare parts to current owners. Following the death of Paul Featherstone-Harvey in late 2017, the production of the cars and any spare parts is currently on hold.
The Minari Mk1 Club Sport moulds were the subject of a legal case the details of which are unknown. The moulds themselves were later donated to a college motorsport engineering department, who after many years of storing the moulds, destroyed and disposed of them.
A Locost is a home-built car inspired by the Lotus Seven. The car features a space frame chassis usually welded together from mild steel 1 in × 1 in square tubing. Front suspension is usually double wishbone with coil spring struts. The rear is traditionally live axle, but has many variants including independent rear suspension or De Dion tube. Body panels are usually fiberglass nose and wings and aluminium side panels. Each car is highly individualized according to the resources, needs and desires of each respective builder.
The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 until 1971. The Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958, two days after that year's Monaco Grand Prix. It was intended to be a low-cost model that "a chap could keep in his bike shed", yet be the successor to the sporting versions of the pre-war Austin Seven. The Sprite was designed by the Donald Healey Motor Company, with production being undertaken at the MG factory at Abingdon. It first went on sale at a price of £669, using a tuned version of the Austin A-Series engine and as many other components from existing cars as possible to keep costs down.
Marcos Engineering was a British sports car manufacturer. The name derives from the surnames of founders Jem Marsh and Frank Costin.
The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their replacement by the Consul and Granada models in 1972.
The Alfa Romeo Alfasud is a small family car manufactured and marketed from 1971 to 1989 by Alfa Romeo as a front-engine, four-door, five-passenger entry-level model over a single generation — with facelifts in 1977 and 1980. There was also a two-door sedan, only available in "ti" trim. Alfa Romeo subsequently introduced a three-door wagon variant, the Giardinetta (1975); two-door coupé, the Alfasud Sprint (1976); three-door hatchback (1981) and finally the five-door hatchback (1982).
The Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint is a boxer-engined coupé produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1976 to 1989, and based on the Alfa Romeo Alfasud. 116,552 units of the Alfasud Sprint and Sprint were built in total. The Sprint was sold in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Clan Crusader is a fibreglass monocoque British sports car based on running gear from the Hillman Imp Sport, including its Coventry Climax derived, rear-mounted 875 cc engine. It was first made in Washington, Co Durham, England between 1971 and 1974, but since then several efforts have been made to bring the car back to production. Plans were made by Martin Phaff to re-resurrect the Clan in 2009, but nothing seems to have come of the project so far.
Rochdale cars were a series of mainly glass fibre bodied British sports cars made by Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England between 1948 and 1973. The company is best remembered for the Olympic coupé made between 1959 and 1973.
The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a mid-engined sports car built by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It is one of the world's first supercars; it was the fastest commercially available car for the standing kilometer when introduced. 18 examples were produced between 1967 and 1969. "Stradale" is a term often used by Italian car manufacturers to indicate a street-legal version of a racing car; indeed the 33 Stradale was derived from the Tipo 33 sports prototype.
The Delfino Feroce is an unproduced British sports car manufactured by Delfino. The prototype was built using the Subaru Impreza power unit and mechanical parts with a Delfino monocoque chassis designed by Andy Borrowman and Sean Prendergast. The prototype along with the moulds was purchased by Allard Marx who then founded Delfino cars. It was powered by a turbocharged flat-4 Subaru engine. It is capable of a 0-60 mph time of under four seconds.
Pelland Engineering was a British engineering company that produced kit cars and made an attempt on the world land-speed record for steam cars.
Banham Conversions (Banmoco) was a coachbuilder and manufacturer of kit cars from the late 1970s until 2004. The company, based in Rochester, Kent, was founded by Paul Banham who started off as a coachbuilder converting vehicles into convertibles. He made convertible versions of the Ferrari 400, Aston Martin DBS and V8, and the Rolls-Royce Corniche.
The GTM Coupé is a Mini based kit car dating back to 1967. GTM is an initialism for "Grand Touring Mini". The car was first shown at the 1967 Racing Car Show and soon afterwards went into production by the Cox brothers from their garage in Hazel Grove, Stockport as the Cox GTM. In 1969 the rights to the design and manufacturing were bought by Howard Heerey and the Cox part of the name was dropped. His father's company Midland Garage took over manufacture of the GTM. In April 1980 ownership changed again to GTM Engineering, who upgraded and continued to manufacture the Coupé until 1995.
The Murtaya is a lightweight, all-wheel drive (AWD), turbocharged flat-4 roadster based on the GC-generation (1992–2000) Subaru Impreza WRX STi. The Murtaya is the only low volume MSA-approved category 2, specialist rally car currently available. The Murtaya Sports car is built, sold and is currently being further developed by ALS Sports Cars LLP, based near Tyne and Wear
Quantum Sports Cars was founded by Mark and Harvey Wooldridge in 1987.
Eagle Cars Limited was an English company, based in Lancing, West Sussex, originally operated by Allen Breeze, although it has undergone a number of ownership changes since. Originally making a Jeep lookalike called the RV, between 1981 and 1998 they built several iterations of a gull-winged car called the Eagle SS. The SS was based on an American kit car called the Cimbria, and was brought to the UK by Tim Dutton. In 1988 Eagle Cars moved inland, to nearby Storrington.
The Mini Hatch, stylised as MINI Hatch, also sold as Mini Cooper, Mini One, or simply called the (BMW) Mini, are a family of retro-styled two-door supermini hatchback and convertible; and a longer, subcompact 4/5-door hatchback. They were introduced in early 2000 by German automaker BMW under the 'Mini' brand. The second generation was launched in 2006 and the third, adding a longer 4/5-door hatchback, in 2014. A two-door convertible version was added in 2004, followed by its second generation in 2008.
The Alfa Romeo Caimano is a concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign and presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. The car is exhibited at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo.
The Sabre Sprint was a product of the mini car company Sabre Cars, formed in 1984 in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne. Steven Crabtree founded Sabre Cars in 1984 after years of producing fibreglass products such as canoes, boats, sunbeds and fibreglass panels to other kit car brands. Crabtree designed and engineered the Sabre Sprint, produced between 1984 and 1986. Its boxy features resemble that of the Ford Escort MK3 or a Talbot Sunbeam. It is often recorded the approx 110 cars were produced by Sabre Cars. There is no evidence to support this and the real number is more likely 25 to 30 [see later]
The Ginetta G26 and its derivatives, the 'G28, G30, and G31, are a series of two-door sports cars, designed, developed, and manufactured by British company Ginetta, from 1984 to 1992, primarily in kit form. All models are based on Ford mechanical components. They differ in length as well as in different bodies and engines. All variants together, about 360 vehicles were built in eight years.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
