Simon's Clubman Site

The Locost is a hand built "kit car" based on Colin Chapman's classical Lotus Seven - in Australia known as a "Clubman" or "Clubbie". My project was inspired by Ron Champion who published a book call "How to build a Sports Car for £250". The only difference with this project is that there is no "kit" as such, only a book. This book is based on the concept of wrecking a Ford Mk2 Escort, and basically transplanting the mechanical components into a welded space frame. Whilst it may be possible to do this for £250 in the United Kingdom, it is certainly not possible in Australia. All new vehicles in Australia, whether they be mass produced or individually hand crafted, must comply with the current Australian Design Rules (ADRs) of the day (all except crash testing that is). This translates to using current day car as a donor vehicle. For my two projects I purchased a wrecked 1992 Mazda Miata (MX5) and 1999 Honda S2000, which provided many of mechanical components.