History - Pt2

THIS PAGE PICTURES: First 'car' was actually a half car used for promotional purposes.

The development of the project was then followed in Which Kit? over the early Summer months, culminating in the car's official launch at the Donington show in September. On display was a 'complete' car with cut away body to show half of the chassis. Of course, the car wasn't complete and there was still a lot of work to do. Having started our coverage with the May 1994 issue, by the April 1995 issue there still seemed a long way to go, and it had only meant to be a four part series!

But by the May 1995 edition I was the first journalist to have driven the car, which must have meant that my visit was around mid March. I remember the visit well, since I was a little concerned about the looks of the car and was simply hoping that it wouldn't be a disappointment to drive. The finish of the prototype was typically excellent and I started my drive by following Terry and Leigh in their production car as they led me to a photo location. Even in traffic the car felt superb. I remember becoming more and more excited about it - it was better than I'd ever dared hope.

My opening line of the subsequent feature went as follows...

"Let's not beat around the bush here, Car Craft's Cyclone is quite possibly one of the best kit cars I've ever driven."

But there were troubles afoot...

Just when the car should have been going full steam into production, Car Craft was hit by a number of production issues, the largest being a serious fault in the manufacturing of the production moulds, which meant that ripples developed in the moulds, making the resultant body panels unusable. It was a disaster that delayed the project for the best part of a year. But for the May 1996 issue I was back at the company's unit in Lytham St Annes, and this time the demo car had a different engine.

Continued on page 3. Back to page 1