Gary Horsburgh wrote:
It's a Series 1 Dutton B plus, or a Phaeton with the wings removed. More likely a B plus, which was a poor mans version of the Lotus Seven S4. I raced a Phaeton back in Scotland for a couple of years. It was also my daily driver for a good part of the time. The space frame chassis had more space than frame, but it was good fun. Triumph Herald front suspension and steering, with a Ford English back axle and a tuned 1600e Cortina engine and box. The Ford /Triumph bolt pattern was a pain in the arse with regards a spare wheel. In the end I carried one of those inflation foam sprays. My car was damaged in an altercation with the barrier at Ingliston circuit in Edinburgh, back in 1990. A Hillman Imp dropped an engine load of oil coming into Arena, causing me to have a slight off. Lots of broken glassfibre and a back axle that had moved 4", punching the panhard rod through the chassis. Repaired it and sold it for a small profit. $13k is quite steep for a Dutton, but depending on the rest of the spec, it might be difficult to build one for the same money. A reasonable steel Pinto is $5-6k used, as getting 200bhp plus needs a wee bit of work. It would be nice to see a dyno sheet, as most of the 180bhp plus pintos I've seen around, realistically struggle to make 150bhp. Even 150bhp would make this fly.
Originally, these came with cushions for seats, and were quite comfy. I'm 5'-10" and once strapped in with a full harness, was going no where. The car for sale has been seriously modified at the back looking at the pictures. Originally, the tub was glassfibre, the only aluminium (with an i) was on the side panels. I assume that he has changed it around to suit the 8" rear axle, and links. Some of the bargain basement versions came with escort leaf springs instead of coilovers, for those too tight to go for the 5 link rear.
There was one for sale in Moncton last year, but the seller was looking for about $7k iirc. It was a $1.5-2k car in my opinion. It had the triumph straight six in it from a GT6. They usually sell in the UK for anywhere between $700 for a banger, to $5k plus for a Rover V8 engined version. A no frills fun car.
I know the guy who built most of this car, it had very high quality internals and revved over 9k last I saw it. He's about 6'3", so it'll fit tall people.
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