History
A Brief history of the Eagle Kit Car range 1981 - 1998
2006 - 25 years of EAGLE CARS - 2006
The Eagle Owners Club has been running now for over 24 years. In this time it has brought together owners of some of the most individual and innovative cars in the 'Kit Car' Industry.
The original car was developed in the States from a British car, (the Nova) and one Allen Breeze started to build it under licence in 1981. The SS was the only 'Gull Wing' Kit Car on sale in the U.K. until the closure of Eagle Cars Ltd. in the late 90's.
Eagle Cars is probably best known for the 'Eagle RV' and 'Eagle SS' Cars, but had also in its family of cars the Ford MkII Escort based 'Eagle P21' and 'Eagle P25' as well as other low production models like the +2, Henderson and Stendetto. It was bought by Rob Budd, a former trial motorcyclist in around 1989. He expanded the range of cars and upgraded the existed models.
According to companies house, Eagle Cars Ltd. ceased trading in 1998 but production had ceased well before that date. The Eagle 4x4 is based on the Range Rover or Daihatsu donor mechanicals but has since disappeared. The Eagle RV Series II Jeep uses the Ford Sierra donor Prior to 1998 the RV design was sold on to two interested parties. Robert May bought the Range Rover based Model and eventually Jordan Developments bought the Ford based RV who then sold it to Jordan Developments in about 2004. . The Ford Sierra RV is built on a steel ladder frame chassis whilst the GRP body has returned edges and built-in wheel spats.
Now both the SS and
the RV are owned by Tim Naylor of TEAC Sports Cars who rescued the SS from
the undergrowth of a Kent boatyard after seeing it advertised on Ebay. As
well as repairing the original moulds for replacement parts fabrication.
Now both the main Eagle models are under one owner again. Tim had hoped to
introduce a new SS in 2007 but by the end of 2008 it was obvious the economic
climate had taken it's toll and whilst interest is still high no one was
prepared to put their money where their mouths were and he has had to call it a
day and is currently looking to find a new and secure home for the SS whilst
keeping his options open on the RV for the time being.
The P21 and P25 accepted all the mechanical components from the Ford Escort range (Mk I and Mk II) and they were updated Dutton Phaetons.
The Standetto was the company's last model, which resembled the Ferrari F40 and was a glorified body kit on a Pontiac Fiero base.
A little known final chapter of Eagle Cars Ltd was in the late 90's when they built a prototype for a company who wanted a car for renting out at holiday locations that was cheap to build, easy to maintain and fun to drive, nothing more is known of this car.
For more information visit the Eagle Kit Car site or Nova-International, both on the links page.
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Questions or comments, email the creator at: daryl_erwin@hotmail.com
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