Dom picked up an MBC/Embeesa Charger kit recently for the VW pan, so now he’s turned around and put the shell — which looks very clean and the perfect start for someone who’s looking to build one of these distinctive cars from scratch — up on eBay (#280303408504). The car is located in Wakefield, UK. The glass required for this kit is the rear glass (you’ll need two) from a Vauxhall Victor — other than that you’ll just need a VW Beetle donor and a lot of hard work.
This odd vehicle (spotted on the KitCars.com forums) is an “Embeesea Chepeko”, a vehicle that seems to sit between the shorter Charger and the later full-sized Charger 2+2 model (and also very similar to the Siva Saluki). Generally mounted on a VW Beetle chassis, this one actually is running a Ford Crossflow engine on a flipped VW transaxle in a midengine configuration. It was built for a friend of the designer’s and as such has thicker fiberglass than usual and several minor modifications. I’ve emailed the new owner, who saved it from the wreckers, for an update on the project and more pictures.
I tend to think of the Charger like the Invader GT — one of those funny cars that looks great from some angles but attrocious from others. Now having seen these photos of Lloyd’s Charger I’m more leaning toward the idea that it’s kind of a “dunebuggyified” Lotus Elise or something, and I quite like it (I think this is the first one I’ve seen that’s not either slowly rotting or an ancient photo)… Anyway, check it out:
Oh, and as you can see from the last photo, it just had its wiring redone — this is still a work in progress.
A friend of my friend Penski sent me this sighting… we’re pretty sure it’s a VW Beetle based Charger kit, but I’m filing it under “mystery cars” until someone can confirm for me. It’s one odd looking car, don’t you think? My personal theory by the way is that it’s loosely based on the old Aston Martin Bulldog prototype (the rightmost photo; designed by William Towns who also designed the Lagonda).
What do you think? Am I right or wrong with these theories?
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