The story of the U.V.A. M6GTR begins in 1981. Alan Arnold, who had built cars and motorcycles as a hobby from as early as 16 years of age, decided in to start his own specialist car and parts business. After spending 18 months researching US companies whose products interested him, he managed to get distribution agreements with a number of them. The Unique Vehicle & Accessory Company was launched from his double garage attached to his house in Curridge, a village near Newbury in Berkshire.
The initial product range was the Beetle based Manta Cars Montage kit car which eventually morphed into the M6GTR and a range of VW performance parts from Bugpack and Sway-Away. He added to this range of Beetle performance parts by importing engine to VW transmission adaptor kits from Kennedy Engineering. Comprehensively producing a range of products that both sold individually to go-faster VW owners and kit car builders in the market for something exotic.
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| The U.V.A. M6GTR |
On background, Manta cars was founded back in the early seventies by a veteran Formula Ford racer named Brad Lovette, who designed and developed the V-8 powered Manta Mirage. It was an extremely potent package employing all of Lovette's racing expertise. It featured a custom tubular spaceframe and monocoque tub made of fiberglass. It was made to accept any GM or ford V-8 and employed Corvair rear and VW front suspension bits.
Unfortunately, Brad Lovette the founder of Manta was killed in a racing accident and the project was taken over by his brother Tim, who's savvy and expertise led the company into a very successful decade. When the Oil crisis of the seventies hit, Tim Lovette saw the need for a more economical product for his company to market. Even though the Mirage was deliciously powerful and desirable, it was less than efficient in terms of MPG. Following the emerging trend in the industry to make kits based on the Volkswagen Beetle, Tim Lovette created the Montage.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR, at rear
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The Montage was designed to bolt directly to a VW pan. Its features included a wrap-around windshield, two-piece sectional doors with pop-out windows, exposed rectangular headlights, and a tilt open rear section for engine bay and trunk access. Thermoformed plexiglass was used for the side and rear windows while the windshield was DOT glass. The body consisted of 3 sections plus doors. Also included in the kit were all of the glass, tail section hinge brackets, fiberglass seat shells, door latches, hardware and assembly manual.
A factory built mid-engine tub and frame designed for V-6 power was also available. This setup was called the Montage T and used GM X-Body drivetrains (e.g. the Chevrolet Citation). This development would be important to UVA's later versions of their licensed version of the kit.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR Rover V8 engine, transmission and rear subframe
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Manta Cars ceased production in 1986, having sold about 1,000 factory-built and component cars.
This development prompted UVA to produce their own version of the Montage. Using the aforementioned Montage T, the UK company would shoehorn Rover's small-block V8 into the tail of the beast. Mounted amidships, this configuration would prove more in keeping with the car's McLaren M6GT replica pretensions. While hard to pin down, your author believes that roughly two dozen M6GTR kits were produced at UVA.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR interior, LHD version for Europe
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However, with the world moving into a financial melt-down, people no longer wanted to risk their hard-earned cash on performance cars and parts. In 1991, 10 years after it started, UVA went into liquidation.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR cockpit
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The U.V.A. M6GTR, front 3/4 view
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The U.V.A. M6GTR
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A custom U.V.A. M6GTR
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The U.V.A. M6GTR with custom rear wing
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The U.V.A. M6GTR with custom rear wing, rear view.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR, RHD interior for the UK
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The U.V.A. M6GTR with custom rear wing, profile.
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The U.V.A. M6GTR head on.
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