1984 in upper hutt new zealand founder alex mcdonald headquarters upper hutt new zealand area served new zealand key people jem marsh phil derby george ulyate products almac 427 almac tc almac tg parent almac reinforced plastics ltd website www.almac.co.nz almac sabre almac is a new zealand based kit car company founded in 1984 and located in upper hutt . 1 almac cars is a part of almac reinforced plastics ltd fibreglass product manufacturing a company founded in 1971 by alex mcdonald . mcdonald s interest in kit cars started while he was living in england having purchased a jem marsh sirocco . jem marsh founded the marcos car company . 2 contents 1 first car 2 almac 427 3 almac tc 4 almac tg 5 almac sabre and sabre series 2 6 almac clubsprint and clubsprint xl 7 references 8 external links first car edit mcdonald continued his interest in kit cars when he migrated to new zealand . at that time the most common kit cars in new zealand were beach buggies based on a volkswagen chassis and a wedge shaped sports car the australian purvis eureka . in 1976 mcdonald set about designing a sports car similar in shape to the 1974 lotus elite and based on a volkswagen chassis . this car was sold to phil derby who uses it as a track car . 3 no further models were made . almac 427 edit kiwiracecars.com 427 cobra chassis awaiting its almac body mcdonald s friends suggested he create a replica car instead as volkswagen based kit cars were reaching their end . using a plastic kitset model and photographs with the help of george ulyate mcdonald created scale drawings and started work on a replica shelby cobra 427 . mcdonald contracted kiwiracecars.com then graham berry race cars limited to create the chassis and build the cobra using mcdonalds fiberglass body . the first car was shown at the 1984 national hot rod show . 4 seventeen cars were sold that year . none were badged as almac s and some have been mistaken as genuine cobra s. more than 250 cobras have been produced and kiwiracecars.com are still producing them using almac made fibreglass bodies today . 5 almac tc edit as the cobra was selling well in 1986 mcdonald decided to add another model more of his own design . the car was loosely based on the mg tc . it was not a replica and designed to fit a triumph herald chassis . twenty five kits were sold in two years . mcdonald also began to build turnkey models of this car . construction of these and their kits ended in 1988 because sound triumph herald chassis were becoming difficult to obtain and the engine size was limited by the chassis . the specification for one owned by mike boven compared to a tg of roy hoares tc mike boven 6 tg roy hoares 7 acquired 1995 2002 engine triumph 2.0 ltr 6 cyl front mounted toyota 2.0 ltr . . front mounted length 3660mm 3660mm width 1600mm 1600mm height 1240mm 1240mm wheelbase 2400mm 2400mm track 1360mm 1360mm brakes drum front rear disk front drum rear seating 2 2 kerb weight 590 kg 590 kg almac tg edit production and work began on the tg in 1988 . although similar to the tc the tg had an almac designed chassis and used holden gemini as a donor car . the first kits went on sale in 1989 . the tg model did not sell as well as the tc and demand tapered off after about sixteen had been made . almac sabre and sabre series 2 edit 2004 almac sabre s2 overview manufacturer almac production 2004 body and chassis class two seater sports coupe body style fibreglass body platform tubular space fame chassis powertrain engine 4.0 litre toyota 1uzfe lexus all alloy quad cam v8 transmission five speed manual toyota supra dimensions wheelbase 2300mm length 4050mm width 1830mm kerb weight 1175kg chronology predecessor almac sabre mcdonald had still not been able to build a car that was a unique almac . mcdonald and his son stuart started work designing a modern interpretation of the cobra . the first design took some of its design cues from the mgb . while the prototype was under construction mcdonald became disenchanted with it and consigned to the tip . in 1991 redesign began using a purpose built chassis and ford cortina parts and a leyland p76 v8 engine . named the almac sabre it was featured in the nz classic car magazine in may 1994 . by this time the market had changed . the mazda mx 5 was available and due a legislative change cheap second hand japanese cars were being imported . a new mx5 was only a thousand new zealand dollars more expensive than the sabre kit . also the ford cortina did not have a good lineage for a sports car . despite having good publicity through driver magazine in 1995 which kit in 1996 and classic car again in 2000 production ceased in 2001 after only nine models had been made . with a revival of the kit car industry in 2002 mcdonald began development the almac sabre series 2 . a newer and stronger chassis was designed the cortina windscreen was retained a toyota lexus v8 motor was added and the body received a significant face lift . the new sabre was launched at the hamilton motor show in march 2004 and with five being ordered . almac clubsprint and clubsprint xl edit when kit car production slowed down towards the end of the 1990s mcdonald began to look for alternatives . graham berry had a completed chassis for a lotus seven based car . his intention was to a cheap kit car that could be built for less than 10 000 . the kit used mark 1 or 2 ford escort parts and was launched through classic car magazine in 2002 . the xl was created to meet a demand for a slightly larger chassis . references edit kit car manufacturers . autosource.co.nz . 2011 . retrieved 31 august 2011 . tim nevison 19 march 2009 . 2004 almac sabre s2 . nz classic car . photos by jared clark . retrieved 31 august 2011 . birth of the 427sc . almac.co.nz . 2010 . retrieved 31 august 2011 . almac 427 sc replica . kiwiracecars.com . 2011 . retrieved 31 august 2011 . tim nevison 27 february 2011 . ac cobra 427sc vs almac cobra replica . nz classic car . photos by sean craig . retrieved 31 august 2011 . mike boven s almac tc . constructorscarclub.org.nz . 2011 . retrieved 31 august 2011 . roy hoares almac tg . constructorscarclub.org.nz . 2011 . retrieved 31 august 2011 . external links edit official website v t e replicas and cars based on or related to lotus seven lotus cars originals and related cars mk6 1952 1957 seven 1957 1972 mk8 1956 1958 mk9 1956 1958 eleven 1956 1958 caterham cars current models academy classic csr200 csr260 csr superlight r300 r400 r500 roadsport superlight historic models caterham 21 1994 2000 jpe 1992 1996 super blackbird 2001 2003 westfield sportscars current models aerorace megabusa & megablade sport sport turbo historic models aerosport 2007 2009 fw400 1999 2002 se seight 1991 2010 xi 1982 1986 2004 2010 others almac clubsprint alpha asp320 asp340 bacchus aries locoblade locost barnard diva speedster birkin s3 boes 7 brunton stalker bwe grasshopper hornet locust chevron classic chinkara roadster cobra garb dala7 dax rush daytona x7 diardi donkervoort elfin ms8 clubman streamliner type 3 clubman esther fraser gillet vertigo gregory haynes roadster hkt 7 irmscher 7 leitch super sprint locost locust lucalia luego locost velocity xt viento mac 1 zr martin ttm gm0 mitsuoka zero 1 mk indy mnracing vortx rt rt rt super nota fang sportsman pegasus 7 prb s clubman composite widebody quantum napier sunrunner xtreme racetech estfield raw fulcrum striker robin hood lightweight project 2b superspec the zero shawspeed sk sbkr superformance s1 roadster sylva leader mojo se phoenix riot r1 riot se striker tiger avon b6 cat xl r6 rs6 alloy tornado raptor vindicator sprint vulcan shadow wcm ultralite lm r11 s2k xr7 ykc formula 27 pace retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title almac automobile & oldid 724414171 categories kit car manufacturersmotor vehicle manufacturers of new zealandlotus seven replicasnew zealand brandscars of new zealandhidden categories use dmy dates from september 2011 navigation 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