About the marque
- Founded
- 2000 – 2005
- Country
- United Kingdom
Former Caterham figure Tony Weale founded Altair Engineering at Reigate, Surrey, in 2000 to revive the inexpensive Ford-based Special after a gap of nearly four decades. Its sole model, the 1172, combined a welded spaceframe and hand-formed aluminum two-seat body with Ford Popular beam axles, transverse leaf springs, steering and side-valve power. The longer torque-tube wheelbase improved weight distribution and the complete car weighed about 950 lb. Kits began at £1,297, excluding optional brake, axle and wheel upgrades. Production ended in 2005 after approximately five examples.
Text adapted from “Altair (UK)” on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗