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NZV8 Concept Corner: Aston GTX

21 January, 2015

Every month, we ask the cover car owner for the concept that they’d most like to build or see built. You’ve seen what he can do with a Dodge Challenger (NZV8 Issue No. 117), but imagine if Phil Kenny bit the bullet and built the car he’d dreamed of owning since he was a teenager!

“A friend of mine actually had a 1970 GTX when we were at high school, and we used to cruise around in it a bit,” says Phil of the inspiration for his concept. “What I’d really like to do to one though is pretty much exactly what I’ve done with the Challenger, and that is to keep the look of old, but make it drive like new. I’ve got a late-model Aston Martin that I’d love the GTX to drive like. So it’d need a full rebuild from the ground up, including similar suspension and brake work to the Challenger. It’d be great to be able to include things like ABS as well, just to take it to the next level.”

“Looks wise, I think GTXs are best in Plum Crazy purple, so I’d go with that, but add a modern twist with a bit of xyrillic pearl, just to make the curves pop in the sunlight. For wheels, maybe a set of Aston Martin Rapide S 20-inch wheels would help give it a modern flair and would be a bit different from what everyone else has. I’d also shave a few bits of trim and smooth things up a bit, but most importantly get the gaps right, as I can’t stand how badly gapped they were from the factory.”

It’d be nice to go all out on the interior, including a late-model Aston dash and seats, including the electronic gauges and air conditioning setup etc. And under the hood would have to be a late model motor, so if I could find one, a six-litre V12 Aston motor would be the go. They produce 550hp in stock form, so that’d be plenty. Of course, they run a six-speed paddle-shifted gearbox, so it’d be nice to include that also. For ultimate handling, it’d be nice to convert the rear end to IRS, but the reality is building a car like this would just cost far too much. Still, it’d be a cool concept, though!” says Phil.


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Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.