GTM Cars
Encyclopedia
Kit car
A kit car, also known as a "component car", is an automobile that is available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then either assembles into a car themselves, or retains a third party to do part or all of the work on their behalf...
manufacturer located in Kingswinford
Kingswinford
Kingswinford is a suburban area in the West Midlands.Historically within Staffordshire, the area is mentioned in the Domesday Book its name relates to a ford for the King's swine - Latin Swinford Regis. The current significance is probably in tourism, education and housing...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The company was founded in 1967 when Bernard Cox and his friend Jack Hosker created the Cox GTM (Grand Touring Mini) a mid engined Ferrari Dino inspired sports car based on Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
parts. It was an instant hit and they built kits as fast as they could in their garage in Hazel Grove
Hazel Grove
-Education:Hazel Grove has a number of primary schools and Hazel Grove High School, the local high school. Some do decide to go to other local high schools, such as local Marple Hall, in neighbouring village Marple. The main primary schools in the area are, Hazel Grove Primary School, Torkington...
, Stockport. In the autumn of 1968, Bernard Cox decided to stop production after 50 kits.
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.
In 1972 a fibreglass company in Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
bought the demonstrator car, moulds, jigs and spares, but they never produced any cars. Instead the GTM project was bought by KMB Autosports in 1976. They made spares for existing cars, but no new kits.
In 1980 GTM entered its by far most successful era when it was bought by Peter Beck, Paddy Fitch and Dougal Cowper, the latter departing relatively soon after. The company moved to Sutton Bonington
Sutton Bonington
Sutton Bonington is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Bonington Campus....
in 1982 and over the next 20 years they refined the GTM Coupe
GTM Coupe
The GTM Coupe is a Mini based kit car dating back to 1967. 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 1970 the rights to the design and manufacturing were bought by...
, as it became known and developed a succession of new models. The Rossa
GTM Rossa
The GTM Rossa is a Mini based 2+2 kit car by GTM Cars. The car was based on two front mini subframes, with the steering being locked on the rear subframe. The Mark 1 car was produced from 1987 to 1990, and the Mark 2 car was produced beginning in 1990....
was another Mini based car with more modern styling and was followed by the Mk2. With the introduction of the Rover 'K'-series engine
Rover K engine
The K-Series engine is a series of engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. The engine was built in two forms: a straight-four cylinder, available with SOHC and DOHC, ranging from 1.1 L to 1.8 L; and the KV6 V6 variation....
, GTM were quick to fit one in their third generation Rossa which was launched as simply the 'K3'
GTM K3
The GTM K3 or Rossa K3 is a Metro based 2 kit car by GTM CarsThe car was based on two front Rover Metro subframes, with the steering being locked on the rear subframe, these were fitted to a fibreglass monocoque tub....
, the first vehicle to be made available with a mid-mounted 'K'-series (subsequently followed by Lotus' Elise
Lotus Elise
The 1996 Lotus Elise weighed . Because of its relatively low weight, it was able to accelerate 0- in 5.8 seconds despite its relatively low power output of...
, MG's own MGF
MGF
MGF may stand for:* MG F, a 1995 mid-engined, rear wheel drive roadster manufactured by the Rover Group* Machine Gun Fellatio, an Australian alternative band* Magnesium fluoride...
and Ariel's Atom
Ariel Atom
The Ariel Atom is a high performance sports car made by the Ariel Motor Company based in Somerset, England and under licence in North America by TMI Autotech, Inc. at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia....
to name but three).
In 1998, following three years in development, Beck and Fitch launched a more up-market sports model, the Richard Oakes designed Libra
GTM Libra
The Libra was launched by GTM Cars Ltd on the UK kitcar market in 1998. Three years in development it was a collaboration between GTM Cars directors Peter Beck & Paddy Fitch, designer Richard Oakes and suspension designer Bryn Davies....
. 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 in 2004 the company moved to Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
.
Once under RDM's management, GTM developed two new cars. The Ballista, a light reworking of the Larini VW-based kit car and a 'skeletal' track car - the 40TR - based around the fibreglass monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
tub of the Spyder. Neither car progressed past the development stage, and 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 new ownership of the parent company 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
Road debris
Road debris, a form of road hazard, is debris on or off a road. Road debris includes substances, materials, and objects that are foreign to the normal roadway environment...
, 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."