Iota | |
The Iota cars shared their name with the 500 Club's monthly magazine and were the brain child of the original CAPA members, notably Dick Caesar. The principle was to provide a kit of parts to assist home builders. In 1947 a batch of 12 chassis and special components, such as the rear axle assembly, wheel hubs and front springs were produced. Individual builders could then add Morgan front suspension, an engine, and construct their own bodywork, though they didn't always worry too much about the body, choosing to modify the to suspension varying degrees instead. These Iota's were usually given individual names, such as Freikaiserwagen (both Shelsley special and 500, Fry and Dunsterville), Stromboli (Adrian Butler and Bruce Mardon), Buzzie II (Jim Bosisto), Zephyr (Jackie Breese) CBP (Tom Clarke) and Milli-Union (Gerry Millington). Non of the Iota chassis cars achieved a great deal of competition success, at least not in unmodified form but that wasn't the point. The 500s could have easily floundered if sufficient cars had not been produced in the first year or so and the Iota kit allowed impecunious enthusiasts to race for a few hundred quid. This was the primary intent of the sponsors and in this regard the project was certainly successful in establishing the momentum of the 500s.
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The production Iota, probably the prototype. |
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