VEGANTUNE ?

Despite the name this isn't a bit on old merc's running on fish & chips oil from a deep frier... 

As cool as alt fuel cars are Vegantune is much cooler I promise. 

I first learnt of Vegantune a few years back after a meeting at my local car club. A chat with the owner of a lovely Ford Escort, would involve educating me on the performance differences of a Lotus twin cam versus a worked pinto.

As expected twin cam is best, and there are many famous engine builders whose names when next to the motor makes it worth much more. One of which rattled off was the Vegantune VTA motor. An ideal engine made for the Vegantune Evante (& some other cars).

This image - sourced from Classic & Sports Car magazine would be my second step into the world of Vegantune. A split second magazine purchase before a flight to Darwin would give me a proper history lesson on the Evante and Vegantune. Rather then rehash their write up I'll just quickly explain the Evante was a kit car based on the Lotus Elan that had a few tweaks. Alterations to the body/styling, it was built to create a raw driving experience, free from luxuries like anti lock brakes and fuel injection. A very cool car no doubt, but I'm yet to explain what Vegantune is and for that I'll lean on Total Kit Car magazine;

 

'Based in Cradge Bank, Spalding, Robinson and his business partner, John Sisme founded the Vegantune operation in 1965. Both were ex-BRM in Bourne and Robinson had latterly been responsible for building Graham Hill’s F1 engines. George’s son, Jeff and his son-in-law, Phil Gardner also later joined Vegantune

George was a Lotus enthusiast – he loved the Elan – and had developed a real liking for the 1558cc Lotus Twin Cam unit and the company was appointed as official Twin Cam rebuild agent for Lotus and by 1978 when the plug was pulled Robinson decided to develop Vegantune’s own version of the engine. It was estimated that Vegantune had reconditioned over 300 engines for the Norfolk manufacturer.'

Using what he had learnt in the first iteration of Vegantune he would take this knowledge and would birth the '1598cc Vegantune Type A (aka VTA)'.

 

'The initial VTA produced 140bhp (although this was later upped to 150bhp for the Evante) but this was soon joined by a turbocharged version that produced 155bhp and then a ‘Big Valve’ 1700cc variant that developed 160bhp.'

Put simply the VTA is a fitting heart for an Elan, Evante, Cortina, Escort, or whatever else should be so lucky to receive it. I really like Ford Escorts and so I made up my mind that despite a total lack of energy towards making it reality my dream combination would be a navy blue mark II with fog lights, superlites and of course powered by one of these so called Vegantune donks. Not an original idea but certainly a timeless recipe.

 

As cool as the above post is and as much as I love to indulge offering my useless opinions I started writing this post not because of the motor but because of an Evante for sale in Australia:

MY105 VEGANTUNE EVANTE

 

40GRAND, 1988 Evante TC160, For sale in Vic.

'This is one of only two Vegantune Evante's in Australia to my knowledge and one of 100 in total. Vegantune were in the business of building 1600cc 4 cylinder F3 and Formula Atlantic engines based on Ford Kent blocks. The Evante was developed as a result of Vegantunes experience rebuilding Lotus Elans with the UK Lotus specialist Spydercars tubular backbone chassis and their own engines in a variety of specs. They enlarged it to 1700cc and offered it mainly in 140bhp or 160bhp versions, Mine's the TC160 model, of which they only made a few. I've had it for 6 years now and have brought it up to the mark with rebuilt and improved engine and suspension courtesy of Peter Backhouse at Twin Cam Services in Seaford. It has bags of torque and great road-holding, with good fuel consumption at legal speeds. The Tan Leather interior is in very good condition as is the rest of this car.

This TC160 has a higher compression ratio than standard plus a Wade cam grind and bigger valves which provide more torque than a standard Vegantune engine, courtesy of Peter Backhouse. The engine is more beefy than an Elan's, and sounds amazing. You can keep the revs down and still watch the scenery rush by, with the rear end solidly planted on it's twin wishbone rear suspension, which works significantly better than the Elan's rear strut design. The front end is standard Elan. It's a blast to drive. Please call or text me on 0430220877, Rob'

 

I think it is safe to say that Rob is one lucky enthusiast having the opportunity to experience an Evante. Looking past the Super Cheap Auto fuel filter and interesting battery location the twin Dell’Orto carbs are sure to dort like the bray of an Italian stallion, or really about 140 strong horses to be exact. A pleasurable sound when sitting behind a beautiful wood-grain dash whilst onlookers finally feel a click in their brains as British-racing-green becomes understood; class. Oh and tan leather, yeah turns out there are warranted uses. 

 

Now to wrap up, I'm no car collector but while on the topic of sharing baseless opinions I think this car is a GREAT buy, and I really hope someone in South Australia steps up to the task...