Merlin (car brand)

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Merlin

Merlin was a British car brand.

Brand history

Leonard Witton developed a vehicle that he marketed in the United States as Witton . Merlin Cars from Southend-on-Sea in the county of Essex offered the vehicle in England in 1980 . Thoroughbred Cars from the same place under the direction of Peter Gowing took over the import in 1980, only sold one copy, and then began production of a revised version that was also available as a kit . The brand name was Merlin . After the liquidation , CVC from Redditch in Worcestershire took over the rights under the direction of Terry Sands, but did not produce. Peter Gowing founded Paris Cars in 1985 in the same location and took over production again, which ran until 2003. Jack Langford and Bill Herrett supported him. Merlin Sports Cars from Wakering in Essex under the direction of Garry Wilson continued production from 2009. The company was dissolved in 2019.

A total of about 1000 copies were made.

vehicles

TF

This model was a two-seater and was in production from 1980. It was initially based on the chassis of the VW Beetle before Gowing designed a ladder frame. A four-cylinder engine from the Ford Cortina was mounted in the front of the vehicle. From 1992, parts from the Ford Sierra were used. From 2009, a Vauxhall Omega was the basis. About 300 of this model were made.

Munro and Plus Two

This was an extended version of the TF . It offered space for 2 + 2 people. Offered as Munro between 1983 and 1984 , the name changed to Plus Two in 1985 . Around 700 copies were made by the time it was discontinued in 2003.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Merlin (III).
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1014 (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. 165-166 (English).

Web links

Commons : Merlin  - collection of images, 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 Merlin (III).
  2. ↑ George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1014 (English).
  3. ↑ opencorporates.com on Paris Cars (accessed September 1, 2015)
  4. ^ Companieshouse.gov.uk . 
  5. ↑ a b c 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. 165-166 (English).