User:Kumboloi/sandbox/GTM Cars

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GTM Cars Ltd.
Company typeManufacturing Company
IndustryAutomobiles
Founded1967
Founders
  • Bernard Cox
  • Jack Hosker
Headquarters
Dudley Road, Kingswinford
,
England, UK
Key people
Dr. Paul Faithfull - Managing Director
ProductsLibra, Spyder
Websitegtmcars.com

GTM Cars is a component kit car manufacturer located in Kingswinford, UK.

History[edit]

The company was founded in 1967 when Bernard Cox and his friend Jack Hosker created the Cox GTM (Grand Touring Mini), a mid engined sports car based on Mini parts.[1] It was an instant hit and they built kits as fast as they could in their garage in Hazel Grove, Stockport. In the autumn of 1968, Bernard Cox decided to stop production after 55 kits.[2] http://www.lightauto.com/gtm%20history.pdf

Production was taken over by Howard Heerey, who had raced a GTM, and his father who renamed the car to simply GTM. The design evolved over time and by 1971 about 170 kits had been made and they were up to GTM 1-3 (model 1, variation 3). But in 1972 the road outside their garage had to be widened and they were forced to close. ref???

Heglass-Fiber of Hartlepool bought the demonstrator car, moulds, jigs and spares in 1972, but never produced any cars.[2] In 1976 the GTM project was bought by KMB Autosports, who made spares for existing cars but no new kits.

In 1980 GTM was bought by partners Peter Beck, Paddy Fitch and Dougal Cowper. Cowper left after nine months. ref??? The company moved to Sutton Bonington in 1982 and over the next 20 years refined the GTM Coupé, as it became known, and developed a succession of new models. The Rossa was another Mini based car with more modern styling, and was followed by the Mk2. With the introduction of the Rover K-series engine, GTM were quick to fit one in their third generation Rossa which was launched as simply the 'K3', the first vehicle to be made available with a mid-mounted K-series (subsequently followed by Lotus' Elise, MG's own MGF and Ariel's Atom to name but three).

In 1998, after three years in development, Beck and Fitch launched a more up-market sports model, the Richard Oakes designed Libra. This was followed up four years later with the Spyder, a more softly styled convertible bearing some of the same styling cues as the Libra but sharing few panels.

In 2003 GTM Cars was bought by RDM Group, and moved to Coventry the next year. Under RDM's management GTM began work on two new cars: the Ballista, a minor reworking of the Volkswagen Golf Mk2-based Larini kit car created by Sculptural Engineering, and the 40TR, a 'skeletal' track car based on the Spyder's composite monocoque tub. Neither car progressed past the development stage. GTM continued to focus on the Libra and Spyder, selling them in either kit or complete factory built forms.

In December 2007 GTM Cars Ltd. came under the ownership of Potenza Sports Cars, owners of Westfield Sportscars.

January 2008 saw GTM Cars appear at the Autosport Show with a newly redeveloped 40TR, although 40TR development has been postponed in favour of development on the Ballista project.

GTM Cars again featured on the Westfield/Potenza stand at the National Kitcar Show at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire on the May Bank Holiday weekend 2009 in the shape of a Red Spyder. For sale as an ex-demonstrator, the car was unpolished and even showed a fair amount of road debris, a far cry from some of the stunning cars shown by the company in previous years. However, Potenza also made clear that the cars would be rebranded as Westfield GTM rather than as a marque in their own right.

In late January 2010, Westfield Sportscars made the following announcement: "Unfortunately due to parts procurement issues we are no longer offering the current range of GTM models. We will however over the next 12 months be designing and manufacturing a new GTM."

Ballista - [3]

[3]

Sculptural Engineering Larini. Composite sandwich chassis with front and rear subframes. Converted to steel spaceframe for GTM Ballista. ref???

Niche Vehicle Network???

Hambly Cars ref???

"Grand Touring Mini"[4]

In 1995 rights to the original Coupé were sold to Peter Leslie's Primo Designs of Stoulton, Worchestershire.[4] In 2015 Derek Hambly established Hambly Sportscars and acquired the rights to the Coupé from Primo, putting it back into production as the Hambly Coupé.[5][6]

[5]

[6]

Rossa K3 more upmarket than Rossa.[4]

Took over Midas Gold and some N.G. models from Pastiche.[4][7]

[7]

New models in 1990. Midas 2+2 Coupé restyled by Oakes with FWD Metro powertrain.[4]

Westfield GTM Autonomous Vehicle. https://westfieldavs.com/westfield-gtm/ https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/self-driving-cars-tested-year-15685902 https://space.uitp.org/initiatives/project-synergy-manchester-av-uk https://www.expressandstar.com/news/business/2018/05/17/self-driving-vehicle-work-wins-industry-innovation-award-for-westfield/

1998 - Libra. Oakes styled.[4]

Beaulieu list of companies:

  • 1966–1968 Cox & Co. (Manchester) Ltd, Hazel Grove, Cheshire. (1969 - encyclopedia)
  • 1968–1971 G.T.M. Kit Cars, Hazel Grove, Cheshire. (1969 - encyclopedia)
  • 1971–1972 Howard Heerey Engineering Ltd, Hazel Grove, Cheshire.
  • 1972–1976 G.T.M. Cars Ltd, Hartlepool, Co. Durham. (1977 - encyclopedia)
  • 1976–1980 K,M,B. Autoports Ltd, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. (1977 - encyclopedia)
  • 1980–1981 G.T.M. Engineering, Nottingham. (1981 - encyclopedia. ends here)
  • 1981 to ??? G.T.M. Cars, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire.

1967 - A-Z book, page 82 -- COX (GB) First seen in 1967, the Cox GTM was a tiny mid-engined GT car using Mini running gear. Putting the engine behind the driver solved one of the problems inherent with cars using Mini components, its height, and the GTM was a very pretty car. It was based around a steel box section chassis, with modified Mini subframe, topped by a fibreglass body, it looked good, but it was difficult to build.

The design's first years were marked by moves and company changes, but along the way it was improved in detail, and in 1990 was still in production by a company called GTM Cars, which seemed to be making a decent fist of it. GTM brought in Richard Oakes, of the NOVA AND Midas, the two lodestones of the kit car industry, and he did a top to tail rethink which was a lot more practical yet still managed to be a recognisable sibling of the original. The new/old car was known as the GTM Rossa and was available as either a roadster or a coupé. -- [1]

[1]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Lawrence, Mike (1996). A to Z of Sports Cars 1945-1990. Bay View Books. p. 82. ISBN 1 870979 81 8. Cite error: The named reference "lawrencebook" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Booij, Jeroen (15 March 2009). Maximum Mini. Veloce Publishing. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1845841546.
  3. ^ a b "Go ballistic for the Ballista". Business Live. 31 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Georgano, Nick, ed. (2001). "G.T.M. (GB)". The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile — G–O. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 652. ISBN 1-57958-293-1.
  5. ^ a b "GTM Coupe Deja Vu". totalkitcar. 7 July 2016.
  6. ^ a b "The Primo Coupe (Ex GTM Coupe) is reborn". Hambly Sportscars.
  7. ^ a b Elphick, Andrew (23 March 2019). "The cars : Midas development story". AROnline.
Cite error: A list-defined reference named "ckc-sep2014" is not used in the content (see the help page).

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kumboloi/sandbox/GTM Cars.


Category:Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:British racecar constructors Category:Sports car manufacturers Category:Kit car manufacturers Category:GTM vehicles Category:Companies based in the West Midlands (county)

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