Midas Coupé

The tale of the Midas Coupé, a partially fibreglass-bodied car that evolved from the legendary Mini Marcos. It's a long and complicated story best told elsewhere, because I'm only concerned with one of the car’s first customers, Gordon Murray, who helped to turn this sporting coupé into something more special (and lent his likeness to the car’s advertising).

Here's the thing: as the expensive stuff gets more expensive, the more wealthy among us — as studies are showing — will continue to pull away from the rest. 

The above has no relation to this story except to say: the truly wealthy will continue to determine the fate of a large number of beloved cars, taking them out of circulation, as it were.

All to say…kit cars could be the future of the average car enthusiast. Or, perhaps as suitable parts supplies dwindle, kit cars will become EVs, and only so-called ‘blue chip’ cars like Ferrari 250s will survive in their original form. The new middle class enthusiasts will be able to enjoy racing simulators, in simulated versions of most of their dream cars. Maybe a few will get hand-me-downs, or kit cars.

That said, the Midas Coupé has never really been all that attainable to the average motorist, either in kit or fully-built form. Below, you'll see a number of different variations on the car, from early to late models pictured. I think it's a handsome design, and a great idea extended from the earlier Mini Marcos: clothe simple mechanicals in a slippery shape.

Save fuel, save weight, go fast. There’s even a Wiki.

As the ad states, Gordon Murray, decades before GMA, had been thinking of creating a car of his own under very similar design specifications, hence his quote. It must say something that one of the world's greatest engineering minds was content to drive a Midas Coupé around.

One layer deeper, Murray was able to see the inherent abilities of the Midas kit car, then applied his talents to further improve it.