Midas Cars

The Midas Cars Ltd. is a British automobile manufacturer in Oldham ( Lancashire ), Corby ( Northamptonshire ) and Redditch ( Worcestershire ) manufactures from the mini kit cars since 1978.

Harold Dermott and his company, D & H Fibreglass Techniques in Greenfield near Oldham was born in 1975 in line with Marcos to take over the production of the Mini Marcos. The car had a somewhat outdated appearance, and so asked Demott the designer Richard Oakes to design a new model. The new car was called Midas and presented in London at the Performance Car Show 1978. The car had a monocoque made ​​of mixed fiber (GRP and steel) with the front subframe and the engine of the Mini. The rear sub-frame of the mini was replaced with a cross member carrying the two trailing arms for the rear wheels.

1981, a revised model was introduced, which had several improvements over its predecessor, which had been proposed by Gordon Murray of McLaren Racing. The car was available in three versions, gold, silver and bronze, depending on the equipment. The increased demand could not be more satisfied from a small workshop in Oldham. So the company moved to Corby and changed its name to Midas Cars Ltd.

1985 further improvements were realized; Midas Gold has been adapted to the now available parts of Austin and MG Metro. In addition, the exterior was - again by Richard Oakes - revised, the provided the structure with spread wings, a " frog eyes " front and larger windows. Gordon Murray was responsible for the improvement in aerodynamics. The Midas was successfully subjected to a ECE12 crash test, so he could be available both as a kit or as a complete car. Was released in 1989 a convertible version, but in the same year had to be discontinued the production, because the factory buildings were burned down.

Midas Gold Convertible (1989 -present)

The rights to manufacture the car were of Patiche Cars in Rotherham (Yorkshire ) bought in 1990, which manufactured the entire range of models newly brought out and a few convertibles before the rights to the gold Cabriolet GTM in Sutton Bonnington resell ( Leicestershire ). GTM brought some changes to the design of, for example, a hydro-pneumatic suspension and a hard top. The model range was expanded in 1995 based on the Mini Metro and Rover 100 models to a 2 2 coupe with the K-series engines.

1990 forms for the gold coupe of GTM to Berlin were sold, where they were used in a project of job creation measures. Meanwhile, the old Midas were again published in the United Kingdom, where they were built a short period of Midtech Cars based on the Mini.

2001 GTM sold the rights to the design of a new Midas Cars Ltd. In Redditch ( Worcestershire ). The model range now consisted of the coupe that Cortez was called and a convertible with the K- series engine with the name Excelsior. Although the cars were well received by the market, the company had to be liquidated in 2003.

A new company, Alternative Cars Ltd. Founded in 2003, began in 2004 in a small workshop in Clanfield ( Oxfordshire ) with the production of kits of the versions Gold Convertible, Cortez and Excelsior.

Midas Excelsior (2002 -present)

2007 discovered the Midas Owners Club, the forms for the gold coupe in Germany and bought it on. In December 2007, these forms were brought back to the UK.

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