The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Enthusiasts unveil sports car designed and built in Dundee
MOTORING: High-performance, lightweight model is aimed at today’s growing retro market
A new sports car designed and built in Dundee – the first car to be made in Scotland since production ended at Linwood in 1981 – has been unveiled.
The ADO Coupe has been designed by a trio of motoring enthusiasts and brings back to life a proposed replacement for the iconic MG Midget first put forward in 1964.
An early version of the car was built as a prototype by BMC but never progressed any further.
That design has been remodelled by Dundee car enthusiast Douglas Anderson, designer Richard Oakes and engine specialist Clark Dawson.
The new car designed by the three men, which is called the ADO Coupe after the initials of their surnames, is a fibreglass coupe based on MG running gear.
The latest new car to be built in Scotland since the Hillman Imp in the ’70s – and the first ever to come from Dundee – has been revealed.
The project has taken several years to fulfil but is now about to go into production in Dundee. The cars will be built to order.
Mr Anderson said: “I wanted to a be a car designer when I was young but there were no opportunities for me at that time.
“I did come up with a few designs which were published a long time ago but this is the first time I’ve created a full-size model... which I think is a work of art and pretty sensational.”
The high-performance, lightweight fibreglass-bodied car is aimed at today’s growing retro market and will be targeted at car enthusiasts who want to own a unique vehicle.
It will be available as a road-going version or as a competition shell for the racetrack, and can be supplied either as a kit or ready-assembled.
The final sale price has yet to be confirmed but will depend on the choices made by the buyer.
The Hillman Imp was the last car to be built in Scotland.
The car, produced by the Coventrybased Rootes Group, began production in 1963 but production ended in 1976 after the company had gone bust and been taken over by Chrysler.
Peugeot-citroen then purchased the Renfrewshire factory, where it produced the Chrysler Sunbeam, before closing the factory for good in 1981.
The closure of the factory devastated Linwood. The Proclaimers’ lyric “Linwood no more” in the song Letter From America is a reference to the economic impact shutting the factory had on the town.