5 English Sports Cars Most People Have Forgotten About
By Carlo Brema
The collective imagination seems having written a rule according to which a sports car must be low to the ground, wide and maybe Italian. According to the same fictitious manual, a sports car takes on different hues, certainly usable in everyday commutes, yet directed towards those weekends that smell like secondary roads, away from traffic and close to the beating heart of an English car. Yes, because on the other side of the Channel they have always known how to hit the mark, creating aesthetically extraordinary cars full of a timeless charm that has often lasted over the decades without ever feeling the need to follow trends. At the same time capable of writing pages of daily life, English sports cars have always made the big voice on the track and in any other competition that can come to mind. Some of them have been consecrated to history, assuming the title of icons, others had less luck. These five stunning British sports cars are probably some of the most unjustly forgotten great models of all time. It’s time to dust off the shelf of memories.
VIXEN GT (1962) [Ph: Volmeyer]
Ok, if this sounds new to you we can forgive you. After all, the Vixen GT is a one-of-a-kind specimen built by former English driver Ian Stronach in the early 1960s, probably in 1962. A quirk, which gave birth to the first sports car with a mid-rear engine and also the first to use an integrated rear spoiler. Science fiction? No, the vision of an enthusiast who understands performance and thus a GT with small dimensions comes to life, weighing just 880 kg and an amazing drivability. Stronach hoped to equip his Vixen with a GM-derived 3.5 V8, but had to settle for a 4-cylinder 1.6 Ford with compressor and a final power of 160 horsepower, which was still enough to move it with extreme agility (during the recent restoration phase, however, it was finally equipped with a Buick V8). The Vixen GT was designed entirely by hand, built according to the most specific needs of its creator, however it manages to have a timeless look, made up of avant-garde solutions, soft lines and an intimate passenger compartment with every comfort. Destiny made it disappear from the radar until 2012, when a Belgian collector – Didier van der Linden – found it abandoned in a barn and with a meticulous restoration gave new life to an unknown as well as great sports car.
LISTER STORM (1993)
When it is said that it couldn’t be more extreme, some immediately think ‘bout the Lister Storm, a racing super sports car approved for road use and produced in just 4 units. Wide, violently angular and close to the ground, the Storm is powered by a 7-litre Jaguar V12, 546 hp and 790 Nm of torque, based on that of the Jaguar XJR-12 Le Mans. No ABS and racing traction control, but to keep it glued to the ground there is a platform that produces a ground effect that allows distances similar to those exploited in racing. Rear-wheel drive and front-mounted engine, if you ask. If this isn’t one of the scariest British sports cars, better close it here.
SPECTRE R42 (1995-1998)
Everyone has their idols and Spectre’s very own was the Ford GT40. We are not exaggerating, as the R42 was the modernized vision of the American sports car according to Ray Christopher, known for producing faithful replicas. The R42 does not hide the tribute to the stars and stripes icon, where R stands for Ray and 42 is the height in inches of the GT40. Also drawing from other sacred monsters of the time, including Lamborghini, Jaguar and Ferrari, the Spectre took up the proportions of the Ford and declined them in a modern key, promising to be the next great British supercar. The fiberglass body, aluminum chassis and low weight per ton and a half were an excellent starting point, as was the engine, a 4.6-litre Ford V8 that generated 350 hp and 430 Nm of torque, good for a 0- 100 kph in just 4 and a half seconds and a top speed of 282 per hour. 5-speed manual gearbox, or the optional 6-speed; in short, the R42 was ready to drive the whole world crazy. However, something went wrong and the ambitions that imagined it crossing the finish line at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended up in pieces when, due to lack of investors, the Spectre had to settle for cheap components and stop production at just 23 units. A real shame and the umpteenth situation in which we find ourselves thinking about what the automotive landscape could have been like with another big name shining in the Olympus of supercars, rather than being forgotten.
BRISTOL FIGHTER (2004-2011)
The Bristol name may not sound entirely unfamiliar, but few know how well the Fighter lives up to its belligerent name. Founded in 1947, it produced elegant and luxurious cars in the immediate post-war period, expanding its offer to coupes and convertibles that always shared a very personal line. In 2004 the Fighter arrives, a coupe with gull-wing doors, a large glass at the rear and a line that cataloged it as a GT. However, its performance was that of a supercar and the credit went to the powerful 8-litre V10 of the Viper modified by Bristol and capable of producing 525 hp and 698 Nm of torque, which became 628 in the S version and even 1,012 in the supercharged T, a missile with GT features and a strong stylistic inclination from the 60s, for which Bristol guaranteed a top speed of 430 kph. The Fighter, despite certainly not small dimensions and a gigantic American engine, weighed 1,600 kg and was equipped with a 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearbox. Obviously, rear-wheel drive. In the “standard” version it burned the 0-100 in just 4 seconds and reached 340 per hour. Do not try to get rid of this one.
GARDNER DOUGLAS T70 (good old days)
We end on a high note with something that embodies the quintessence of British motoring, or the total devotion to the world of racing. We are talking about the Gardner Douglas T70, which we would like to specify is not a simple replica of the legendary Lola T70 from the fabulous 60s. Yes, because under a fiberglass car body and a steel tube frame there is one of the most absurd kit cars you can get, already assembled, or ready to be delivered in the form of a Lego in natural size, with the difference that this one screams and does that loud. It weighs 800 kg and fits a 5.7 cc Chevy V8, which in the basic version unloads 430 horsepower, but which can reach 500, or even 600 and 700 horsepower of maximum power. Madness and poetry. What is kept intact is the shiver that pervades your body the moment in which an ultralight object with similar power and reactivity is capable of transmitting, on the track but also on the road, given that the T70 replica is also equipped with insurance to circulate on everyday’s roads. Yes, because you never know, maybe it’s time to get back to driving for real and these five know exactly what it takes to refresh your memory.