Mitchell Special MKII

Client enjoying his new car in the lanes of Dorset

The brief

Create a unique body design in the spirit of a 1950's classic racing car. The vehicle would be used on the road and track and only one would ever be made. A bespoke car for a discerning customer.

Mitchell Special MKII at its inaugural meeting,
the St John Horsfall Trophy Race, Silverstone, 2009

Information utilised

The chassis and its running gear had already been created by the client Andy Mitchell of Mitchell Motors Ltd.

On our first meeting, Andy gave us approximately 50 pictures of cars he liked and 50 of cars he didn't and told us to go away and create a car suitable for road or track, designed in the spirit of a 1950's racer that looked nothing like any of the pictures!

The dimensional information from the already created chassis proved invaluable.

Project progress

  • The first stage was to reverse engineer the existing chassis and additionally create a "mock-up" of the engine to ensure the body design would not clash with the vehicle's under-structure.

Reverse engineered tubular chassis

Computer generated (CG) body, buck, chassis and engine combined to check for "snags"

  • Over a three month period 21 versions of the body design were created. The last few alterations being 1-5mm "tweaks" to ensure the design matched what the client wanted in his ideal World.

Early design sketch with amendments noted and major versions of design amendments

  • Before the design was "signed-off" numerous renders - computer generated pictures - of the vehicle were created along with a tenth scale model to ensure that the design was exactly what the customer required.

CG image and one tenth scale model. Both created to test the validity of the vehicle design

  • Once the final design was agreed, a buck - wooden former used to create car bodies - was designed. Again this included a great deal of consultation with Andy and the people tasked to create the vehicle, to ensure it met their requirements.

CG detail image of the buck

  • Once the buck design was agreed, the files containing the design were e-mailed to our preferred CNC wood cutting firm and the buck was ready for collection within 36 hours.

CG images of the buck were created to allow the client to critique the design

  • As is our usual practice, we did not leave the client with a cheery wave and a pile of pre-cut wooden parts, but rather assembled the buck at his premises as a final check and to show how easy it was to assemble. As an additional touch, we numbered every single part for future reference.

Newly created car body buck

  • This was essentially where our involvement in the project ended. However, the whole point of creating the buck is to save the client time, money and minimise costly redesigns and false starts. To this end, Andy believes that the buck saved him 20% - 30% on the overall time it took to build the vehicle body. In addition, should the vehicle ever sustain damage the buck will be available to help repair the vehicle, with the same time savings applicable. In this sense, it is a gift that keeps on giving.
  • The vehicle was completed in April 2009 meaning that from start to finish, it was created in 7 months.

The newly finished Mitchell Special MKII in Mitchell Motors state of the art paintshop

  • Finally, the fact that the buck was designed to be put up and down with no fixings and to be stored flat has meant that minimal workshop space has been lost in storing the buck.

The vehicle's history since its creation

Since completion, Andy's car has competed in numerous races, track days and other events. It has gone to France and been driven all over the UK. It is the car he dreamt of turned into reality and he is a very happy customer! In fact, he has even commissioned - with the aid of the renowned photographer Craig Pusey - a book charting the development of his car from concept, to creation and beyond.

Front cover of the Mitchell Special MKII hardback book

Example of book content, showing a happy client

As the car is in such frequent use and its history is evolving very quickly, we have set up a blog to chart its progress. It can be found here and will be updated regularly.

The car has also received many favourable reviews on Internet forums, with the most extensive discussion here.

Mitchell Special MKII in the pits at the St John Horsfall Trophy Race, Silverstone, 2009

Finally, I must thank Andy Mitchell owner of Mitchell Motors in Wiltshire for allowing us to share his project with you. He owns a firm with an enviable reputation for restoring and repairing classic car bodywork. With a mix of traditional techniques and modern facilities - such as his state of the art paint oven - his work has won many awards.

Further details can be found on his website www.mitchellmotorsltd.co.uk

 

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