Our Launch Issue
Complete Car Builder is the essential companion for any built-not-bought enthusiast this Christmas and beyond – whether you're just about to embark on their first project, or are a serial builder or modifier.
The Locost story
Complete Car Builder’s first ‘big feature’ needed to be something that encapsulated the very British idea of building bespoke cars at home... and few cars tell that story better than the original Locost, and few people do it more justice than its creator Ron Champion.
Ron joins us for this two-parter to tell all on developing the car and writing the best selling Build Your Own Sports Car For As Little As £250 Haynes manual that saw 1000s around the world build their own cars from scratch. This is the first time the tale has been told in full, due to Ron’s absence from the scene for many years, and we’re pleased to announce that he lets us in on the car and book we nearly received next, had fate gone another way.
In the part two, we return to that original cover car and prototype with the father and daughter team who restored it after two decades in storage... and we see how this Ford Escort and MG Midget-derived machine feels on the road nearly three decades after it kicked off an entire movement in car building.
The Racer's Rod
We're well aware that every automotive clique and niche has its own rules of engagement, but while we’re keen to respect the past and go through the history of each... rules are famously there to be broken. With that in mind, our first hot rod showcase may rattle a few traditionalist cages, but we’re as much about starting dialogues and widening appeals as we are respecting – and educating on – the traditions of the past. Also, when the engineering and concept is as all-encompassing as Gary Sanders’ Chevrolet LS3 V8 rat rod, we wouldn’t be doing our duty by ignoring it.
It may have motorsport-derived in-board camber compensating fully-independent suspension in place of the traditional leaf springs and live axles, and the ability to beat all sorts on the road and track because of it... but this build still retains a love and appreciation for one of the world’s most enduring build genres. It’s also a car that we believe bridges a number of fandoms that go well beyond the hot rod and custom car worlds. It’s an epic thing.
Midget Missile
Not every build needs to be a from scratch affair, as Complete Car Builder is keen to see a return of print and web media celebrating the worlds of high-end and heavy modification. Our first big feature from this world is a restomod that’s a little different to the norm, with a builder behind it that meets a similar description.
You may have spotted Steve Cowling and his drag racing MG Midget at the many BMC and Santa Pod shows it has been terrorising over the years. But if you haven’t, it is an incredible thing thanks to its über-modified A-series engine, sizeable turbocharger and boot full of nitrous oxide, which is only crazier for the fact it’s completely road legal.
For fans of classic British motoring and tarmac ‘elevenses,’ this feature explains how you can, and why you should, go against the originality grain to create something that truly stands out on the road, track and in the show field... and why sometimes, it pays to do something because its fun, funny and not at all what people are expecting.
Maranello Magic
Several of our upcoming builds and features are difficult to place into a single build camp, but that’s no bad thing as it’s often these special projects that inspire the most.
This road-legal, single-seater Vanwall special is one such escapade that isn’t at all short on intrigue thanks to its unique build which harks back to the dawn of British GP racing and Maranello’s dominance in motorsport.
With a Ferrari V12 up front, and the genuine right to wear the hallowed Vanwall name on the side, this may be a car that comes from this side of the millennium, but it’s also one that features componentry, skills and concepts from the heyday of international motorsport. Richard Heseltine tells all on the much-missed man behind the project, and all of the cars – both physical and metaphorical – that were built into this never-to-be-repeated Vanwall Cars project. If you’re a fan rarefied classic cars, the finest ingredients and automotive history, this is absolutely the feature for you.
Also inside:
How to build the best Autotest car, and win!
Lotus’s London: Retracing Chapman’s first factories
Build Basis: Mazda MX-5
Past Masters – we dive through our extensive build archive
Product Reviews
Industry news
Clubs and events
And so much more...
