OV9

No - nothing to do with Yellowstone.

The Dutton Kit car is back.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new- ... r-37-years

The good news is that they still look as striking as they always did.

The bad news is that this isn't necessarily a good thing.

But hey - I hope they sell some.

no thank you.

That body is fibreglass, right? So presumably they could have designed a new body that didn't look like it was designed by a 5 year old.

I saw an article the weekend and thought fantastic but know 99.9% of people would look at it and think wtf

Delphi wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 11:08 am That body is fibreglass, right? So presumably they could have designed a new body that didn't look like it was designed by a 5 year old.

Yes it really is just wilfully ugly isn't it.

It would look 1000 x better if they didn't have the grille sticking so far out, just have it follow the contours of the body

Those 1950's Mini halogen headlights are not helping.

That's awful.

mik wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 10:29 am No - nothing to do with Yellowstone.

The Dutton Kit car is back.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new- ... r-37-years

The good news is that they still look as striking as they always did.

The bad news is that this isn't necessarily a good thing.

But hey - I hope they sell some.

Hang on. You get a used MX5, throw away the nice body and bolt this on?

Well, you can get a written off MX-5 (as long as you can verify the important bits work - engine, gearbox, diff etc) and then rip the guts out of it to put in their chassis, IIRC.

Manual here.

https://www.timdutton.com/Downloads/manual.pdf

Being pug-ugly is a bit of a shame given it's probably about 600kg, 160bhp if you get a 2-litre, 6 speed, LSD in the car, for about £11k plus labour.

Problem is £11k will get you a decent Westfield. And it won't look like something your kids built to play in.

It’s almost like it’s been made that ugly on purpose - surely they understand it’ll severely affect sales?

Though sounds like it’s just an old dude enjoying developing kit cars..

Mito Man wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 7:32 pm Problem is £11k will get you a decent Westfield. And it won't look like something your kids built to play in.

Yeah, I don't disagree about the looks. They really are hard to get past.

I’m starting to wonder if this is a Caterham funded plot….

“No they’re not cheap - you could always spend £11k on a Dutton instead?”

“Let’s have a look at one of tho….. What the shut the fuck off ???”

<immediately orders Caterham>

It also looks lethal, I don’t know how much of the MX5 chassis remains underneath but the roll over bar on that doesn’t look very sturdy and then you’ve replaced the monocoque with fibreglass, binned all the side impact protection and whatever else.

Going on the feedback on here, shall I enquire about a forum group buy?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that looked like a cheap ugly bodged together piece of crap. I struggle to understand how they ever sold a single one.

The new version isn’t any better!

Mito Man wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 10:36 pm It also looks lethal, I don’t know how much of the MX5 chassis remains underneath but the roll over bar on that doesn’t look very sturdy and then you’ve replaced the monocoque with fibreglass, binned all the side impact protection and whatever else.

I mean, if you're looking at cars like this I don't think that a 5 star NCAP rating is what you're going for. I think it's got about as much side impact protection as anything else in the kit-car-esque class (westfields etc) because most of them are just spaceframes with GRP on top.

That roll hoop does look like something of a box ticking exercise though - might get through an SVA or whatever it's called these days, but I think any trackday would laugh you off the premises.

That said, if you're looking at cars like this and going "Oh my, I need that in my life" then it's probably for the best that you're risking your life in a rollover....

Chassis pics in here:
https://www.timdutton.com/phaeton-s5/phaeton-s5.html

I swear I'm not glazing this thing, I find it more....fascinating. Like rubbernecking a pileup in the motorway.

Who is buying these? Some people must be!

“ The design brief was simple, to produce a 21st century version of the best selling "Super-Kit Car" in the World - the Dutton Phæton, 1000's upon 1000's were made since 1973.”

Also, “30kg if unused MX5 ironwork”; a car famously lightweight and so they mean structural components.. who needs rigidity!?