Simply Good: Markham 450 to Offer Big Power and No-Frills Fun
Former leading mind at Britain’s TVR, engine designer Al Melling, is planning to release a back-to-basics sports car this year that sounds like it would be right up our alley.
Focusing on simplicity and light weight, the Markham 450 is a rear-driven two-seat roadster, powered by a Chevy-sourced 5.7-liter V-8, and built around a steel spaceframe chassis. The big Chevy motor will be tuned to produce around 450 horsepower (hence the name), and should offer old-school thrills in a sexy convertible package.
Melling wants the 450 to be a relatively accessible package and one that’s easy for future owners to modify as they see fit. Autocar reports in the April 16 issue of its print magazine that the car will have a target price of around 40,000 pounds and could be on sale by the end of 2008.
Comments
jason
Beautiful.
JN
40,000 pounds is relatively accessible? That's around $65,000. The Lotus Elise fits the formula (Focusing on simplicity and light weight))and is half that.
Mena
The Elise is no where half that price, at least not in the US. The base Elise starts at $46k.
Mena
Besides, half you guys would never own a car like the Elise anyways. It just amazes me how people clamor for cars like the Elise but all I hear is how much trunk space it doesn't have or how tiny the car is or how impractical it is or blah blah blah. Yes, the Elise is impractical as a single car but that's what you lose when you lose weight.
I drive a Solstice. Much heavier and a more comfortable car BUT just as impractical. Noise and ride questions come up all of the time. Lightweight sports cars (or any sports car for that matter) have firm rides and are a bit noisy. MOST people don't like firm rides and they sure as hell don't like noise. I guarantee that most of you guys would NOT like to drive a car like the Elise everyday. I, on the on the other hand, would LOVE it and would own one yesterday if I could afford it.
roGer
@ Mena: Thanks for the unnecessary holier-than-thou attitude. Is there anything else you'd like to lecture us on?
You're clearly a 1-percenter, but I'm sure most of the rest of the Winding Road audience is too.
Mena
roGer,
Doubt it. Know WAY too many sports car people that would "love" an Elise but once they take a ride or drive in one, they want their 350Z's back. Nothing wrong with a Z or any other sports car for that matter but wishing for cars to be lighter weight and more raw is delusional. There's a reason we have all of these pig heavy, bloated cars with EVERYTHING standard. Drum roll!!! It's because everyone WANTS all of that crap standard!!
If a few people said they wished for lighter cars you wouldn't hear a peep from me about it. But the loads of posts here asking for this stuff is pure BS. I know damn well most of the people asking for lightness are full of crap. Remember a light car like the Elise doesn't have much sound deadening so loads of noise will be heard, suspensions will be WAY stiff, the seats will be firm and body hugging, there won't be any navigation, and storage space will be almost non-existent.
This is the TOTAL opposite of what people want and not even all that desirable among sports car people.
dante
The Elise's pedals are too close for my feet to heel and toe, so I'm building my own vehicle. Storage space? That's what the passenger seat is for. Used Elise's go for very cheap money, but my feet are just too damn big unless I wear driving shoes all the time, which I never will. I might as well walk around wearing a racing suit unzipped to the waist and a Ferrari shirt and matching hat.
mo
to Mena, clap....clap, i totally agree with you. few of us actually use their cars for performance purposes. most of us prefer comfort, and this adds weight. unfortunately, in order to lower the weight and keep the creature comfort, the car turns into aluminum and other expensive alloys which boosts the price tag. and this is why not all cars are turning aluminum like jaguar. you don't wanna see a 30k corolla now do you??
the bottom line, it is really hard to get all. you need to sacrifice something.
P.S: mena chill, swallow yo' mellow and relax. I know sometimes life is hard but you should control you inner anger.
Jim
Too bad jag didn't make it
Very nice
Trinks
Just because enthusiasts want to get back to basics doesn't mean the engine has to be a beastly, thirsty V-8. Why not a high revving, high performance V-6 or 4 banger? The price might even come down some, making it even more "accessible."
mo
how many V-6's and i4's come with 450 hp.....
Mena
mo,
Not as angry as it looked, I promise.
Trinks,
Like mo said, there aren't too many 450hp 4 cyl's and V6's. That 5.7L V8 is a cheap, easy way to get decent power. Remember, this is a small car company with limited resources. I'm sure they'd rather spend their development money on the chassis. Besides, a 4 or 6 making 450hp would be more expensive than that 5.7L V8.
Jonathan Fung
Interesting. It looks like a cross between the Miata and the Jaguar E-type. The asking price is a bit high though.
Martin
Ha Ha. Over the past few years I've seen this clown Melling come up with sooo many 'concepts', not one of which has made production. The guy is an eccentric old bloke who lives in his shed. anyone remember the Norton Nemesis bike? Another of his masterpieces....
driving course
Let's just hope that TVR manage to make it more reliable than most of the stuff they've built in the past.
Post new comment