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Click for: Ikenga |
| ©dwij 2002 |
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most challenging experience of my late twenties was closing a successful
business and embarking on a dream to manufacture a line of innovative
vehicles. I began by purchasing a McLaren MK1 chassis and a Rover
Buick 3.5 engine as research showed them to be the best combination
for this project. My search for a coachbuilder led me to
Charlie Williams, on of England's foremost craftsmen. I
knew at our first meeting that our relationship would be heartfelt
and productive; out-of-the-box creatively.
Charlie, a gracious and wonderful guide, undertook the building of Ikenga from my clay mockups and drawings. In our three years of collaboration the Ikenga went through three design changes. Ikenga's body was hand rolled aluminium bonded to the McLaren chassis; the completed vehicle was a mere thirty-nine inches high and weighed a bit under eighteen hundred pounds dry. The interior was cozy due to the wide sills of the mid-engine McLaren racer but this was not a deterrent for a proof-of-concept vehicle. Ikenga was styled as a contemporary African mask-on-wheels that faced skyward to spirit. The nose enclosed a ducted radiator behind the cockpit and a closed circuit camera for rear vision. The mouth, the long panel in the photo, served as both an entry into the luggage area and as an airbrake. Ikenga's
acceleration was awesome and its handling all that one would
expect from a McLaren—precise with double wishbone and
anti-roll bar setup at both ends. The Mark I pictured was our
first big design test! Five other inner-city and recreational
concept vehicles were under development while work on the Ikenga
GTs proceeded. |
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Ikenga MK l 1967 Built by Charles Williams—One of England's Greatest Coach Builders |
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Designed
by David Gittens
—With the support of talented friends and artists during a very exciting mid-60s on a creative London sojourn. The Ikenga GTs went through three stylistic improvements, each of which incorporated the most advanced technlogy of the era - TV for rear vision, electronic accident warning systems, and electronic sensors for parking. |