Auto Tune Gemini Kit Car

The Gemini is a replica of an Elva Mk1B from 1956. These were powered by 1100cc Coventry Climax engines whereas I put a Rover 3500 V8 unit in this car. Needless to say, it is very quick! Further proving the quality of the Aristocat, Autotune joined the SMMT early on in the evolvement of the car, completing most of the criteria required by the current SVA testing back in 1992. TUV (UK) Ltd., on behalf of the SMMT, tested the Aristocat from all aspects.

Autotune Gemini Kit Car Seat

It's not clear to me from your post, but presumably you know that the Gemini is still available. I'm building one.
I may be wrong but I think Lotus jumped on that one PDQ.
Interesting, not heard of that before. I went down and met with the two brothers that designed it, looked a decent kit and pretty well engineered (they were boatbuilders so knew their composites). I think gtm re-engineered it somewhat and the price rose significantly to the point where iirc the balista was similar in price to a pukka elise.
Interesting, not heard of that before. I went down and met with the two brothers that designed it, looked a decent kit and pretty well engineered (they were boatbuilders so knew their composites). I think gtm re-engineered it somewhat and the price rose significantly to the point where iirc the balista was similar in price to a pukka elise.I thought the Ballista project got shelved when Westfield acquired GTM and Westfield were thinking about redeveloping it into a spaceframe; or am I thinking of the Libra?
As for all the other kits that used to be available that have disappeared without trace, I think they mostly disappeared in the late 90s and early 00s. We've had a few long threads on here bemoaning their demise and the lack of variety in today's market. The reasons are many and various, but boil down to Sevens (or similar) working because they're not too expensive and you get something more focussed than the mainstream can offer and then the more expensive stuff - think Cobra, Stratos, Ultima etc, works because you can't get anything like that form the mainstream without spending A LOT more money, but the in-betweeny stuff doesn't really make sense in the face of the competition from the likes of the Elise, MX5 and whatever else you can think of from the mainstream market.
I didn't pay much attention to the kit car scene between the mid 90s and early 00s and I was genuinely shocked to see that some of the (I had thought) mainstays of the industry were no more and that there was a proliferation of sevenesque cars around. Particularly surprising to me was Quantum, who had abandoned their Fiesta based cars and were then (and now) producing their Xtreme - a stainless steel seven.
The AF Sports was a lovely thing, but I'm not sure they ever sold very many.
Sorry for resurrecting a very old thread, but just wanted to say - the people you saw running that V8 Gemini were my dad and his mate, who co-own and run that car to this day. It's actually just had an engine rebuild, as the Rover v8 kept dropping oil and getting black-flagged for smoke. We spent Saturday afternoon getting it turned over on the driveway. It's still completely mad.
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Having driven it myself, I can testify that most track days are spent trying to keep the rear wheels from overtaking the fronts (and being overtaken at ever bend because of it), and then overtaking just about everything on the straights at comically low revs. It's a very strange car, full of character and extremely crude! We'll hopefully be running it at track days and hillclimbs fairly regularly from this summer, look out for us (you'll hear it before you see it!).
Sorry for resurrecting a very old thread, but just wanted to say - the people you saw running that V8 Gemini were my dad and his mate, who co-own and run that car to this day. It's actually just had an engine rebuild, as the Rover v8 kept dropping oil and getting black-flagged for smoke. We spent Saturday afternoon getting it turned over on the driveway. It's still completely mad.
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Having driven it myself, I can testify that most track days are spent trying to keep the rear wheels from overtaking the fronts (and being overtaken at ever bend because of it), and then overtaking just about everything on the straights at comically low revs. It's a very strange car, full of character and extremely crude! We'll hopefully be running it at track days and hillclimbs fairly regularly from this summer, look out for us (you'll hear it before you see it!).Nice looking project well worth seeing. My own experience with big Rover V8's in very light chassis has been very similar. The straights are doddle the curves are the killers! Good to see someone really enjoying their kit car good luck to you!

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Autotune Gemini Kit Car Wash

Hi A.G.,
Yes - I realised once I'd replied. You are right about their rarity - and I find it slightly strange myself. For example, the difference between the Gemini body and the GRP I've seen on Furies is night-and-day (I understand that the new owner of the Fury project is sorting this out.) I personally prefer the traditional 5-link rear to the Sylva live-axle solution too.
I met Richard and Carolyn Taylor at the Stoneleigh Show last weekend. They seem like great people to deal with. Richard put up with plenty of my unusual questions. He doesn't know it yet but I may have a chat with him to see if he fancies doing some sort of arrive-and-drive package on the car mentioned in his e-mail for a race later in the season.
I'm going to be starting spending on my machine again soon however so looking forward to making progress, or at least accumulating some 'stuff' for the build.
TC

Auto Tune Gemini Kit Car Parts

Autotune Gemini Kit Car Parts

Factory Five

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