Scotland hasn’t been too renowned for its car-building prowess in recent decades, with Rootes’ Linwood plant closed in 1981 and AC Scotland calling in the receivers in 1985. However, a fresh chapter could be about to start, with a new car, the ADO Coupe – and the first ever to come from Dundee – now revealed.
Called the ADO Coupe after the initials of the three men behind the project, it brings to life a concept from 1964 which was intended to be a replacement for the iconic MG Midget. Although an early version was built as a prototype by BMC, it never came to fruition, but now Dundee enthusiast Douglas Anderson, along with designer Richard Oakes and engine specialist Clark Dawson, has remodelled the original design and created a fibreglass coupe based on MG running gear. The project has taken several years to fulfil but is now about to go into production in Dundee and there are reportedly several potential order already.
“I wanted to be a car designer when I was young,” said Anderson, “but there were no opportunities for me at that time. I did come up with a few designs which were published a long time ago but this is the first time I’ve created a full-size model, which I think is a work of art and pretty sensational.”
The lightweight fibreglass-bodied car is aimed at today’s growing retro market. It will be available as a road-going version or as a competition shell for the racetrack and can be supplied either as a kit or ready-assembled. The final sale price has yet to be confirmed but it will be very much a bespoke machine, with the owner specifying the choice of engine, suspension and internal fittings.
