Midas
Midas is a British made kit car which was launched in 1978 after Harold Dermott and his company took over production of the Mini Marcos.
The origins of Midas
In 1975 Dermott’s company, D&H Fibreglass Techniques, made a deal with Marcos cars to begin producing the Mini Marcos model. The car was remodelled by the designer Richard Oakes due to the fact that the old model was looking outdated, creating the Midas. The Midas used many parts from the Mini, such as the engine, gearbox and front subframe. Other parts, such as the rear subframe, were redesigned and replaced. The car was updated in 1981 and was available in three versions know as Gold, Silver and Bronze and D&H Fibreglass Techniques changed its name to Midas Cars Ltd. The manufacturing process was moved from Oldham, and the small workshop that had been producing the cars, to a larger factory in Corby, Northamptonshire due to increasing demand for the car. In 1985 further improvements were made to the Midas Gold so that it could use Austin or MG Metro parts and the car was again restyled by Oakes. Midas decided to start selling complete cars as well as kit car components, so crash testing was undertaken and in 1989 a convertible version appeared, however later that year all Midas production had to be stopped after a fire.
A new era for Midas
Production of the Midas changed hands many times in the 1990s and early 2000s. Pastiche Cars purchased the rights to Midas in 1990 and the range was relaunched. A handful of convertibles were made before the Gold Convertible was sold to GTM Cars, who changed a series of things, such as replacing the suspension and introducing a hardtop. In 2001 the Midas was sold to a new Midas Cars Ltd who were based in the West Midlands. By this time the range had expanded to include a K-Series powered convertible called the Excelsior and a coupe named the Cortez. After the company went into liquidation in 2003 a new company, Alternative Cars Ltd restarted the production of the kit form versions of the Gold Convertible, the Cortez Coupe and the Excelsior Convertible. Midas cars are still made by Alternative Cars Ltd today.