For the past few months I have been looking for a new car to replace my ageing BMW 320i. I have been through every combination of comparator in order to select a car. I even went as far as to write a spread-sheet to calculate the most suitable car for me, the results of which suggested I should buy a Renault Clio 182 or a Ford Fiesta ST. After trying both I found them to be thoroughly uninspiring. Back to Square one.
Upon further consideration I had a moment of clarity: It is now no longer possible to have fun on the road with a car, not without putting someone’s life or my licence at risk. There is simply too much traffic around, even in the back waters where I live. It then became obvious, why not have fun off-road, where there is no traffic. This and the fact that winter was looming sparked the idea of a 4×4 (and it can’t be a bad thing to have another tow car around the place can it?).
I initially looked at some crew-cabs such as the Nissan Navara, but after research found them (and all non-permanent 4 wheel drives) to be frail. So a permanent 4 wheel drive it had to be and to find such a vehicle I looked no further than my parents Range Rover. It has everything you need to go off-road and in some comfort as my Dad and I found out last winter when we drove it through some 3-4ft deep snow drifts.
At this stage, whilst milling around on the internet looking at various forums and sites selling upgrades for Land Rover/ Range Rovers, I came across the Tomcat Motorsport website. Tomcat Motorsport produce a kit for turning a Land Rover, or Range Rover into a Tomcat. In brief, the process involves stripping the donor car back to the bare chassis and then welding a new space frame to the Land Rover ladder chassis and rebuilding the car from there with new body panels.
As it happens Tomcat Motorsport are based only-a-very-short-trip-across-the-countryside away. So I made the trip to the workshop and talked to Paul (the Tomcat Motorsport owner) about the Tomcat and what’s involved etc. His sales pitch was very thorough… he sat me in the car pictured above, and I was sold immediately. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
So, I left the workshop with a new mission: to build a Tomcat 100. I have some spare cash. Check. I have the know-how (ish). Check. And most importantly I have the time and space. Check and check. Time to execute a (not) thoroughly planned and researched idea. I mean, how hard can it be?
