The Caracal
- Aircooledwannabee
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Re: The Caracal
I saw one yesterday 13/04/2009 in Heidelberg.
Yellow in colour and it has a standard 1.6 golf motor in it. Fiat Uno dials, hard top, black interior, frontwheel drive.(motor in front), in running condition.
It belongs to a retired magistrate.
Now a question what is something like this worth?
I'll be going there on Wednesday and try get some pictures.
Yellow in colour and it has a standard 1.6 golf motor in it. Fiat Uno dials, hard top, black interior, frontwheel drive.(motor in front), in running condition.
It belongs to a retired magistrate.
Now a question what is something like this worth?
I'll be going there on Wednesday and try get some pictures.
"Money talks & Bullshit walks"
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Re: The Caracal
Aren't you referring to the Rasso Kit Car? It is based on VW Golf mechanics, and looks a lot like the Caracal. Unfortunately this is the only pic I have, from the rear
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Re: The Caracal
Hello guys....
I see that this is quite an old thread and I don't know if anyone would still be interested in this car.
Saw this at Kilarney yesterday and knowing and having worked on it, I decided to try and find out more about their current status. A search landed me on this forum so here goes. My info about these cars.
I have driven one, albeit in the nineties. There were two in Cape Town, a blue and a red one. The engines were mid mounted, as in behind the driver. For its time, they were quite impressive. Surprisingly rigid for the roofless design and the KR engine with the 2Y gearbox certainly made for some decent performance. I was involved with a guy by the name of Eric Booth at the time, who was building kit cars in Diep River in Cape Town at the time and he was somehow connected to the creator of this car. Eric was building a car called a Manx at the time. Also mid mounted and actually quite a cute little piece of work.
The story went and I am open to correction, which I have contacted Eric for, that there were five built, of which three had to be destroyed in the process of testing crumple zones. I will update for any of you who might be interested...
So if this is correct and it could be wrong by one car, maybe two went to be crashed, then there are only two cars left. Not necessarily a stunning car but a little piece of SA motoring achievement in my opinion..
- retrovan
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Re: The Caracal
The Caracal, Molds and the only un-built car body that came off the molds are still with my friend in Uitenhage,
He was going to build them, then asked me if I wanted to join in building them, then the whole thing stopped when the price of fiberglass went through the roof, and talk of banning fiberglass all together, by law.
Good looking shape anyway.......
Herman
He was going to build them, then asked me if I wanted to join in building them, then the whole thing stopped when the price of fiberglass went through the roof, and talk of banning fiberglass all together, by law.
Good looking shape anyway.......
Herman
1952 Split Beetle 1835cc
1968 Fastback 2Lt.type4
1972 Low Light Bay Panel Van 2Lt type 4
1975 Fleetline Panel Van 1914cc
2020 MeFusco Beetle Truck 2Lt type 4
1972 FT Hahn SP 1776 cc
1968 Fastback 2Lt.type4
1972 Low Light Bay Panel Van 2Lt type 4
1975 Fleetline Panel Van 1914cc
2020 MeFusco Beetle Truck 2Lt type 4
1972 FT Hahn SP 1776 cc
- hitlers revenge
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Re: The Caracal
Heddles, My mate owned that Red Caracal for many years in Plumstead.
After he passed on, I don't know what happened to it.
Do you know the new owner?
After he passed on, I don't know what happened to it.
Do you know the new owner?
Why do we celebrate the guy that invented the wheel??
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
- hitlers revenge
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Re: The Caracal
The Caracal was built in Epping, Cape Town with Golf mechanicals until Volkswagen pulled out of the deal for what ever reason.
Why do we celebrate the guy that invented the wheel??
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
Re: The Caracal
Heddles wrote:
Hi guys
Searching for totally something else, I happened on this (rather interesting) site and saw my car, the VW Caracal, under discussion. Interestingly, soon after the photo was taken (by Heddles) at Killarney Raceway, the Caracal was surrounded by Mazda MX-5's - my other passion in life. (Visit us at www.mx5wc.co.za) I bought the Caracal from the late Billy Young with the idea of putting it through a full restoration: when I got the car, it was in (almost) going and (almost) road-worthy condition. It's been re-painted, re-roofed, re-tyred and some mechanical work had been done. The car is now in a "driveable" condition but with more work planned. The most recent article re the Caracal was by Mike Monk and appeared in the January 2016 issue of topcar magazine: in this article, Monk writes about the Caracal and three other South African cars considered important to our motoring history - the GSM Dart, the Protea and the Duphet.
The Caracal is a beautiful thing in the flesh. And with the mechanicals now also being sorted, it will soon be what is was designed to be: a high-spec, high performance sports car. I have often wondered: if VW went ahead with the development, manufacture and marketing of the Caracal, how would it have stacked up against my beloved MX-5? Re-reading the road test of the first MX-5 (Car Magazine, December 1990) and comparing it to the Caracal, I personally am convinced that we would have been celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Caracal in 2014 .......... (There is, of course, an ironic twist to that road test: in the same edition of Car, my Caracal appears on the front page with a write-up about it on p106. Little did I know at the time ......)
The last time that I put a car through a full resto was some 35 years ago: I then entrusted all the work to a single workshop who took the project on as a turnkey job. Today, I am wondering if such a project should not perhaps be left to someone a little younger - and with a better command of the more spicy side of The Queen's English! Or perhaps the car should be housed in one of our excellent motoring museums - it simply is that important to our motoring history.
Hello guys....
I see that this is quite an old thread and I don't know if anyone would still be interested in this car.
Saw this at Kilarney yesterday and knowing and having worked on it, I decided to try and find out more about their current status. A search landed me on this forum so here goes. My info about these cars.
I have driven one, albeit in the nineties. There were two in Cape Town, a blue and a red one. The engines were mid mounted, as in behind the driver. For its time, they were quite impressive. Surprisingly rigid for the roofless design and the KR engine with the 2Y gearbox certainly made for some decent performance. I was involved with a guy by the name of Eric Booth at the time, who was building kit cars in Diep River in Cape Town at the time and he was somehow connected to the creator of this car. Eric was building a car called a Manx at the time. Also mid mounted and actually quite a cute little piece of work.
The story went and I am open to correction, which I have contacted Eric for, that there were five built, of which three had to be destroyed in the process of testing crumple zones. I will update for any of you who might be interested...
So if this is correct and it could be wrong by one car, maybe two went to be crashed, then there are only two cars left. Not necessarily a stunning car but a little piece of SA motoring achievement in my opinion..
- hitlers revenge
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Re: The Caracal
Thats my old mate Billy Young. Worked with him for many years.
Miss him at Timour Hall these days. Must of passed on about 2 years ago.
Miss him at Timour Hall these days. Must of passed on about 2 years ago.
Why do we celebrate the guy that invented the wheel??
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
- retrovan
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Re: The Caracal
Correction, there are two bodys still in Uitenhage, with the moulds.....
Herman
Herman
1952 Split Beetle 1835cc
1968 Fastback 2Lt.type4
1972 Low Light Bay Panel Van 2Lt type 4
1975 Fleetline Panel Van 1914cc
2020 MeFusco Beetle Truck 2Lt type 4
1972 FT Hahn SP 1776 cc
1968 Fastback 2Lt.type4
1972 Low Light Bay Panel Van 2Lt type 4
1975 Fleetline Panel Van 1914cc
2020 MeFusco Beetle Truck 2Lt type 4
1972 FT Hahn SP 1776 cc
Re: The Caracal
The white car is an EB Manx,I had a yellow one,you also had the EB Mangusta that looked very much the same.I know of 3 in GP and was build in CT by I think a gentleman Eric Booth? Not a lot was build and had vw golf fwd drive train located in the back.It could also be ordered with V6 or V8 engine as per attached copy of cataloque. Pardon the poor quality of the pics
Re: The Caracal
The green car is a Razzo built by Kit Car Centre in GP. Fwd vw golf components and drivetrain.I still have mine with a vw kr 16v Turbo engine and drive it daily.It has a removable roof.It has done a 13.4 second 1/4 mile @ 195 kmh with 224kmh on the 800m.
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- Drip
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Re: The Caracal
Good afternoon,
My name is Clive and new to this forum and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of Aircooledvwsa.
I don't know who to ask for information regarding the EB Mangusta as mentioned in the previous posts.
I am aware this is already a year old topic but really hoping and praying I can get some feedback please.
We purchased a EB Mangusta that was standing in a elderly gentleman's garage for a good couple of years and would like to know if its worth too much to remove the 1800 8v engine which came with weber DCOE40s and install something a bit more modern.
Thank you again for the opportunity.
Regards.
Clive.
My name is Clive and new to this forum and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of Aircooledvwsa.
I don't know who to ask for information regarding the EB Mangusta as mentioned in the previous posts.
I am aware this is already a year old topic but really hoping and praying I can get some feedback please.
We purchased a EB Mangusta that was standing in a elderly gentleman's garage for a good couple of years and would like to know if its worth too much to remove the 1800 8v engine which came with weber DCOE40s and install something a bit more modern.
Thank you again for the opportunity.
Regards.
Clive.
- Tony Z
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Re: The Caracal
Welcome Clive.
That car of yours looks fantastic!
If your 1800 works, why replace it? The old 8V can be easily and cheaply rebuilt and has a whole aftermarket industry and modification market that you can tap into if you want more power...
That car of yours looks fantastic!
If your 1800 works, why replace it? The old 8V can be easily and cheaply rebuilt and has a whole aftermarket industry and modification market that you can tap into if you want more power...
ANGRRR
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=14775
1302S
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=33521
Panel Van
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopic.php?p=288723
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=14775
1302S
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=33521
Panel Van
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopic.php?p=288723
vader wrote: The Force is strong with you young Sith Lord Z!
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- Drip
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Re: The Caracal
Thank you Tony Z,
Yes I have an abundance of parts for 8v U-Flow X-Flow 16v 20v and even have parts to build up a FSI 16v same as what VW Motorsport uses.
I am good friends with Dave Ingle so engine wise isnt really a problem, I just don't want to ruin a collectors car if you know what I mean.
I did however install spitronics and a set of throttle bodies but the engine mounting broke and hit a hole in the sump
Too fix it I needed to take the engine out as its way too difficult from the bottom.
Yes I have an abundance of parts for 8v U-Flow X-Flow 16v 20v and even have parts to build up a FSI 16v same as what VW Motorsport uses.
I am good friends with Dave Ingle so engine wise isnt really a problem, I just don't want to ruin a collectors car if you know what I mean.
I did however install spitronics and a set of throttle bodies but the engine mounting broke and hit a hole in the sump
Too fix it I needed to take the engine out as its way too difficult from the bottom.