Laser Cars

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The Unique Vehicle & Accessory Company Limited (1981–1991)
TAG Automotive Limited (1992–1993)
Laser Cars (1993–1995)
legal form
founding 1981
resolution 1995
Seat Whitchurch , Hampshire
management Terry Lee
Branch Automobile manufacturer

UVA M 6 GTR

Laser Cars , previously The Unique Vehicle & Accessory Company Limited and TAG Automotive Limited , was a British manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

Alan Arnold and Terry Lee founded the company in 1981 The Unique Vehicle & Accessory Company Limited in Curridge in the county of Berkshire . They started importing and later producing automobiles and kits . The brand name was UVA . In 1983 the company moved to Newbury in Berkshire and in 1990 to Whitchurch in Hampshire . Gwyn Parry, who previously worked for Ford , joined in 1992, whereupon the initials of their first names resulted in the new company name TAG Automotive Limited . From 1993 Terry Lee ran the company alone, which now traded as Laser Cars . Production ended in 1995. A total of around 575 vehicles were built.

vehicles

The Baja Bug was a conversion kit for the VW Beetle with a different front and different fenders . About 15 of these were made between 1982 and 1995.

The Fugitive F 20 was the most successful model with around 500 copies during the period from 1984 to 1995. It was intended for dirt track races or as a recreational vehicle. A spaceframe tubular frame formed the basis. A two-seater body made of fiberglass was mounted on top. A four - cylinder boxer engine from the VW Beetle powered the light vehicles.

Between 1984 and 1986 the Manta Cars company imported a kit from the USA , which was offered as an assembly . This was a replica of the McLaren M 6 racing car . The chassis of the VW Beetle formed the basis. The new price for a kit was relatively high at 3895 pounds . He only found seven buyers.

The M 6 GTR was the further developed version of the Montage . A fiberglass monocoque formed the basis. A V8 engine powered the vehicles. About 15 of them were made between 1985 and 1991.

Four Fugitive F 30s were built from 1985 to 1991. It was the mid-engine version of the Fugitive F 20 that received a V8 engine from Rover .

From Fugitive F 40 , the four-seat version of the Fugitive F 20 , about seven pieces were sold from 1,985 to 1,991.

The Shogan was the conversion of a VW Beetle into a station wagon . Around 15 of these vehicles were built between 1985 and 1991.

The Can Am was based on the chassis of the Fugitive F 40 , but had a Rover V8 engine in the center of the vehicle. The heavily modified front now had fixed fenders. This model found about twelve buyers between 1986 and 1991.

In addition, from 1982 UVA offered the South African Badsey Bullet from Badsey as a kit car and complete vehicle in England, but apparently did not sell any of these three-wheelers.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter UVA.
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P – Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1646. (English)
  • Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 , pp. 265 (English).

Web links

Commons : Laser Cars  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter UVA.
  2. ↑ George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P – Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1646. (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 , pp. 265 (English).
  4. ↑ Chris Rees: Three Wheelers A – Z. The definitive encyclopedia of three-wheeled vehicles from 1940 to date. Quiller Print, Croydon 2013, ISBN 978-0-9926651-0-4 , p. 31. (English)