| GTM Cars Ltd. | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Manufacturing Company |
| Founded | 1967 by Bernard Cox and Jack Hosker |
| Headquarters |  Dudley Road, Kingswinford, England, UK |
| Key people | Dr. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Kingswinford is a suburban area (formerly a large village in the West Midlands county but previously in Staffordshire. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Paul Faithfull - Managing Director |
| Industry | Automobiles |
| Products | Libra, Spyder, 40TR, Ballista |
| Website | gtmcars.com |
GTM Cars is a component kit car manufacturer located in Kingswinford, UK. A kit car is an Automobile that is available in kit form which means that the client buys a set of parts and needs to assemble the car himself / herself Kingswinford is a suburban area (formerly a large village in the West Midlands county but previously in Staffordshire. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
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 parts. Dino was a brand for mid-engined rear-drive Sports cars produced by Ferrari from 1968 to 1976 The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC and its successors from 1959 until 2000 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 50 kits.
Production was taken over by Howard Heerey 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 bought the demonstrator car, moulds, jigs and spares, but they never produced any cars. Hartlepool ('hɑːtlɪpuːl is a North Sea port in North East England 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 it's 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 in 1982 and over the next 20 years they refined the GTM Coupe, as it became known and developed a succession of new models. Sutton Bonington (ˈsʌtən ˈbɒnɪŋtən is a Village lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south west Nottinghamshire The GTM Coupe is a Mini based Kit car dating back to 1967 The car was first shown at the 1967 Racing Car Show "Labour packs" were also available for The Rossa was another Mini based car with more modern styling and was followed by the Mk2. 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 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). The K-Series Engine is a series of engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. Series 1 The design philosophy of Lotus is "Performance through light weight" first adopted by the founder of Lotus Colin Chapman. The Ariel Atom is a high performance sports car made by the Ariel Motor Company based in Somerset, England.
In 1998, following three years in development, Beck and Fitch launched a more up-market sports model, the Richard Oakes designed GTM Libra. The Libra was launched by GTM Cars Ltd on the UK kitcar market in 1998 The was followed up four years later with the GTM 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 was moved to Coventry. Coventry ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in the County of West Midlands in England.
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 monococque 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. Westfield Sportscars are manufacturers of both factory built and kit versions of several two-seater open top sportscars
January 2008 saw GTM Cars appear at the Autosport Show with a newly redeveloped 40TR.
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