The
Clan Crusader was a fibreglass
monocoqueMonocoque, from Greek for single and French for shell , is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin. Monocoque construction was first widely used in...
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
sports carThe term sports car has been defined as "an open, low-built, fast motor car." The term describes a class of automobile with two seats, two doors, precise handling, brisk acceleration, and sharp braking — trading practical considerations such as passenger space, comfort, and cargo capacity...
based on
running gearThe term running gear is used to describe the wheels, suspension, steering, powertrain & chassis/bodyshell of a motor-car or automobile, or the tracks and road wheels of a tank or similar tracked vehicle....
from the
Hillman ImpThe Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
Sport, including its
Coventry ClimaxCoventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later following the departure of Stroyer, was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
derived rear mounted 875 cc engine. It was first made in
Washington, Co Durham, EnglandWashington is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...
, between 1971 and 1974, but since then several efforts have been made to bring the car back to production. It seems as of March 2009 the Clan name is being resurrected by Martin Phaff of previous Ginetta fame. A prototype is due in May 2009.
The car was designed by a group of ex-
LotusLotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high handling characteristics....
engineers led by Paul Haussauer with styling by John Frayling.
The
Clan Crusader was a fibreglass
monocoqueMonocoque, from Greek for single and French for shell , is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin. Monocoque construction was first widely used in...
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
sports carThe term sports car has been defined as "an open, low-built, fast motor car." The term describes a class of automobile with two seats, two doors, precise handling, brisk acceleration, and sharp braking — trading practical considerations such as passenger space, comfort, and cargo capacity...
based on
running gearThe term running gear is used to describe the wheels, suspension, steering, powertrain & chassis/bodyshell of a motor-car or automobile, or the tracks and road wheels of a tank or similar tracked vehicle....
from the
Hillman ImpThe Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
Sport, including its
Coventry ClimaxCoventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later following the departure of Stroyer, was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
derived rear mounted 875 cc engine. It was first made in
Washington, Co Durham, EnglandWashington is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...
, between 1971 and 1974, but since then several efforts have been made to bring the car back to production. It seems as of March 2009 the Clan name is being resurrected by Martin Phaff of previous Ginetta fame. A prototype is due in May 2009.
Clan Crusader
The car was designed by a group of ex-
LotusLotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high handling characteristics....
engineers led by Paul Haussauer with styling by John Frayling. The company was set up in 1969, and production started (at a new factory in Washington set up with the aid of a government grant) in 1971. The car was available in either kit of fully built versions. Although the car received good reviews and achieved some competition success, it was expensive at £1400 when compared with rivals. The company shut down in November 1973. Total production in this first phase was 315.
After closure the body moulds were bought by Andreas Kaisis , a businessman from
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
and owner of the
Kaisis Motor CompanyKaisis Motor Company is a vehicle manufacturer in Cyprus, in business between 1973 and the late 1980s. The branding takes after the name of the founder, Andreas Kaisis, a local entrepreneur. KMC manufactured trucks, buses, and many speciality vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines and airport...
. A mysterious time in the car's history started with disputes over ownership and replica body shells being made by copying an existing car. In 1982 the original moulds returned to the UK and experimental vehicles were made using various engines.
'Irish' Clan
In 1982 some "unofficial" body moulds were bought by Peter McCandless who started a new company Clan Cars Ltd in
NewtownardsNewtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Ards Borough Council area. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and built about 120 road cars and 10 competition cars. Contemporary advertisements give an amazing price range of from £1,200 for a basic kit to £10,000 for a complete road ready car with new engine. The car, with a 998 cc Imp engine, was improved with disc brakes (from the
MGBThe MGB is a sports car launched by MG Cars in May 1962 to replace the MGA and manufactured until 22 October 1980 — originally by the British Motor Corporation and later by its successors...
). Other differences were its pop-up lights, heavier bumpers, 13 inch wheels and a dashboard from the
Ford FiestaThe Ford Fiesta is a small front wheel drive supermini car designed by the Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India and South Africa...
. The Crusader name was not used for these cars. After Clan cars closed the body moulds were purchased by members of the Clan Owner's Club to use to make replacement panels.
Clan Clover
In 1985 Clan Cars developed a new, mid-engined version called the Clan Clover. It used an 1500 cc
Alfa Romeo Flat-4 engineAlfa Romeo developed a water cooled flat-4 engine for their new Alfasud, introduced in 1971.-1200:The original engine displaced 1.2 L with an 80 mm bore and 59 mm stroke and produced between -Applications:...
and gearbox. It is believed that approximately 26 cars were made. Clan Cars ran into financial difficulties and went into receivership and ceased trading in 1987.
McCoy
The McCoy was a
MiniThe Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
-based version of the Clan, made in 1984 by Arthur Birchall, one of the original company founders. The car used a Mini engine and was
front-wheel-driveFront-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
.
Clan Club
As of 2008 the Clan Club is active, and through its long-standing members Dave Excell and Dave Weedon one can purchase any body panel or even a complete new bodyshell.
External links