GBS Cars & Coffee event update: Coronavirus

We have had several emails, phone calls regarding the happening our GBS Cars & Coffee that we have planned to take this Saturday (21st March) at the GBS Factory, so we would like to update you with our decision.

19/03/2020 - 10.00am: GBS Cars & Coffee event this Saturday (21st March) update -
This morning the GBS Team have made the decision to all be at the Factory on Saturday (21st March) from 10am - 2pm should you wish to still join us. We are changing the format in line with government advice, but we do ask that if anyone has any symptoms of the virus or are vulnerable, we ask you not to attend.

We appreciate your patience and continued support in these turbulent times.
Small and independent businesses value your continued support now more than ever.
We will certainly be doing all we can to support our suppliers & partners in this time and most importantly look after our customers and staff.

Our parts shop Kit Spares will be open, but we ask if possible please call (telephone 01623 860990) before the day to place your order then we can prepare it ready for you to just collect on the day. You can still purchase on the day if you wish, but we are just trying to reduce contact and make the day run smoothly.

We will be doing more Cars & Coffee events later in the year, so you won’t be missing out if you can’t join us.

If you wish to join us we look forward to seeing you, but if you decide not to then we fully understand and hopefully you can join us next time.

Warmest regards & best of wishes from the entire team here at GBS.

GBS Customer collects his second Zero Self Build Kit & more Kits being exported…

A few weekends ago we welcomed GBS Customer Tim Furnival back to the GBS Factory to collect his new Gen 2 Zero Ford based Self Build Kit. This is Tim’s second Zero that he will have built and we look forward to following the build and sharing the progress with you.

Tim said “ I started the whole kit car interest with buying a Robin Hood kit, which did have a lot of challenges..…. Then I saw GBS at Staffordshire Kit Car show a number of years later having heard they had taken over Robin Hood.. straight away I could see such a difference in the early mk1 kit, so I purchased and built the car that was featured in complete kit car magazine with a transit van turbo engine in it.

Again 10 years on family and marriage later I saw Richard at the Autosport International Show and again I was hooked. Seeing all the development and updates from my kit and with the introduction of the ATR Products, again I was impressed with what was on offer and Richard had helped with purchase options and spending time talking to me about a new kit. It is a lot easier for anyone to build a car and now I think GBS has done this with all the readymade options to help you. Dare I say it definitely beats rival competitors in quality and beats them by price…..  Hence my second purchase 😃”.

Tim’s Zero made it onto the front cover and was featured in CKC Magazine in November 2009. Hopefully Tim’s next build will also be feature in magazines.

We have several other Zero self build kits that are now be prepared for collection over the next few weeks including a nicely painted Zero that is currently being packed for export to the USA and another that is going to Canada.

Our Cars and Coffee event that is happening this Saturday (21st March) is looking like its going to be a very busy day, don’t forget to let us know you are joining us so we know how many cakes to make! Click here for more details

See us at Goodwood FOS with the Zero’s & busy preparing for our next event….

We are excited to be returning to the Goodwood The Festival of Speed later this year with the Zero’s. The last time we exhibited at Goodwood Festival of Speed with the Zero’s was back in 2013, so after many years we are delighted to be going back this year.
It is the largest motoring garden party in the world – an incredible four days that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, stars and motorsport ‘royalty’ to create the largest car culture event in the world. Held in the immaculate grounds of Goodwood House, this annual hillclimb event is a true celebration of motorsport and all things automotive. More details and our stand location can be found on our events page.

We are now busy preparing for our next event on the GBS Calendar which is first GBS Cars & Coffee event of the year which is taking place at the GBS Factory very soon on Saturday 21st March at the GBS Factory.

Last year our cars and coffee event that we held in March  was our biggest and busiest ever event, with the car park over flowing, and this year we are hoping you can join us and that its going to be even better!  As always, expect to see plenty of Zero’s in the car park along with a range of other sports cars, our parts shop Kit Spares will be open on the day, and there will be plenty of cakes and unlimited tea and coffee for you all to enjoy, whilst helping us to raise more money for two great charities…. We will be collecting for the Notts & Lincs Air Ambulance & Cancer Research.
Don’t forget to let us know if you will be joining us, so we know how many cakes to make. Everyone is welcome in any car, more details can be found on our event page.

Click here to visit our GBS Facebook event and to let us know you are joining us.
The GBS team look forward to seeing you all.

Did you know that around 80% of the Zero is produced and manufactured in house….

Many of you that have already visited us at the GBS Factory will know that we design and manufacture a lot of our products in house, and around 80% of the Zero is produced in house by our great team of 14 people that make the GBS Zero happen. Below are just a few behind the scenes photographs that show how the Zero and components are produced here at the Factory.

The complete GBS in-house manufacturing and design facility enables you to benefit from a managed supply chain that ensure our products are delivered consistently to the high-quality standard you expect. We design, manufacture and produce in house as much as we can including the Zero Chassis and Race (FIA) Chassis, Wishbones, Aluminium Body Panels, GRP Bodywork (choice of 9 colours) as well as a range of Carbon Fibre Bodywork panels, Suspension, Throttle Bodies, Brake Calipers, Exhaust System including Silencers & Manifolds, Fuel Tanks, Fuel Filler Caps and much more, below are just a few photographs of some of our favourite products that we manufacture. Our product range is not just for our Zero, its also suitable for a full range of other sports cars, we also have full workshop and design facilities enabling us to offer custom fabrication.

The 2000sq ft of component storage that we have provides our customers with access to a  comprehensive parts inventory to support your initial build requirements and the rapid dispatch of spares should the need arise.  Components and spares can be purchased directly from our showroom store at the factory or online from our parts website at www.kitspares.co.uk. and also www.atrproducts.co.uk

The range of GBS Zero’s are available as a factory-built car or in component form. You can select from a variety of packages ranging from a starter kit through to a full bill of material that can be assembled by yourself or by us. The GBS range is available in right or left hand drive and as a Standard width or wider GT chassis option. Click here to see more on the Zero options or contact us to arrange a visit.

You can trust that the range of cars and options available to you will provide superior value in terms of appearance, quality, design, performance, support and most of all enjoyment. See more manufacturing and engineering photographs on our engineering page, please click here.

MADE IN THE UK

GBS Zero on display at the Race Retro Show....

At the weekend some of the GBS Team were at Stoneleigh Park for this years Race Retro Show, which is another one of our favourite shows of the year that we exhibit at. On display was our new GBS Gen 2 Zero demonstrator along with a range of  Kit Spares products which attracted a lot of attention and also on display was some of the popular ATR Products including ATR Sump, ATR Shock Absorber and the Ford 2.5 Duratec Engine and much more on display. Also spotted at the weekend on the 750 Motor Club Stand was our Exhaust Manifold, Inlet Plenum Chamber, Fuel Pressure Regulator that was fitted to a multiple race-winning Ma7da car that was on their stand, we are proud to be supplying the 750 Motor Club with Control parts for the Ma7da Series formula. To see our full range of parts and spares please visit www.kitspares.co.uk and also www.atrproducts.co.uk Lots of new products have recently been added to the Kit Spares website over the last few weeks, see below a few new parts that have been added.

Don’t forget we have our Kit Spares shop and showroom with a full range of parts and spares on display, we are open Monday - Friday and occasional Saturdays depending on events. (please contact us for Saturday openings for both GBS & Kit Spares)

The next event in the GBS Calendar is our first Cars & Coffee (and cake) event of 2020 that we are holding here at the GBS Factory in Nottinghamshire which is happening on Saturday 21st March. It already looks like we will be seeing a variety of different cars in the car park, everyone is welcome to join us and more details can be found on our events page or on our GBS Facebook page. Let us know you will joining us….

Magazine visit & enjoy a test drive in our NEW Zero demonstrator….

You may have seen our new Gen 2 Zero demonstrator on our stand at several events that we have recently attended including the Autosport’s Show last month and it can also be seen this weekend (21st-23rd February) at the Race Retro Show on our stand. Our new demonstrator has been busy doing test drives, and it was nice to have Adam from Complete Kit Car magazine visit us yesterday morning to view & test drive our NEW Gen 2 Zero Demonstrator. Its a very nice high spec car and has a lot of optional extras and upgrades on it, see below its specification.

If you would like to come and see us and see our new Zero Gen 2 demonstrator then get in touch today, we look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you to the GBS Factory. The Zero can also be seen next month at our GBS Cars and Coffee event which is happening on Saturday 21st March at the GBS Factory, you can find more details on our event page about the day.

Specification:
Sport Chassis
Ford 2.5 Duratec Engine
ATR Throttle Bodies
Estimated BHP 195BHP
ECU Life Racing
Painted Hyacinth Red metallic
Carbon Fibre Dash with Aims Technologies MXP Strada Dash
Painted Sport Front Wings which are now standard on GBS Self build Packages
Carbon Fibre body kit including rear stone guards
ATR Suspension
DRL Style Headlights
Seats – GBS Stand Seats with red Stitching secured with black Ultralight TRS Motorspot GBS 4 Point Harness.
Wheels & Tyres - Team Dynamics pro race 1.2s – 7” front 8” rear with Yokohama AD08R tyres all round.
ATR Brakes front only – ATR light weight uprights front and rear.

Visit our GBS YouTube Chanel to see more details on our New Gen 2 Zero Demonstrator.
Contact us today book a Factory Visit & Test Drive, we look forward to hearing from you.

More Zero’s soon to be on the road in the UK & USA….

The GBS Workshop is always busy, and we often have several Zero’s with us for the IVA Service that we offer. We recently prepared and presented to IVA a Ford based Zero built by GBS Customer Tom Pearce, who collected his Zero Self Build kit from us 8 years ago from the GBS factory in 2012. Tom’s Zero is now back with him and just awaiting for the registration to come through before he can get the number plates and get it on the road to enjoy some miles. (Pictured above is Tom with Keith, 8 years ago when he collected his Zero Self Build kit from us)

Tom Said “I also want to say what a pleasure it has been to deal with Gbs over the last 8 years, all the staff have been friendly and helpful, so many thanks to Richard, Keith and Yourself for all your have done to help me get my car on the road.  Please can you pass on my appreciation to Matt and the team for the outstanding job they have done finishing off my car, I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw it Tuesday evening.” 

We hope Tom can join us next month in his Zero for our first GBS Cars and Coffee event of the year, which looks like we are going to be joined by lots of other Zero owners as well as many other sports cars. Everyone is welcome to come and join us, please click here for more details about the event. Whist Tom’s Zero was with us we also did the Geometry set up, which is just one of our workshop services that we offer, click here for more details on the  workshop services that we offer.

Over in the USA its great to see that another customer’s Zero build is now also not to far of completion. GBS Customer Michael Etzel in USA visited us at the factory last summer where he enjoyed a factory tour and test drive in our Mazda demonstrator with Richard. Mike emailed last week with some photos and to say thank you to Richard for his help with the Emerald mapping at his tuners, which was a successful day and the car runs strong.
Mike said “ Strapped to the Dyno for today’s testing. The Emerald needed lots of mapping to work correctly. By days end it is running very strongly. I rebuilt a 200k mileage 1991 1.6L Miata to stock specs then installed the ATR throttle bodies. We pulled 116.5 hp @ 7000 at the wheels today. It will get me around town just fine. We need a couple more hours to verify the mapping and remove all the test equipment, button it up and were done. Very glad to be at the final stage of the build. Now to inspection, assign the vin and get it registered. A special thank you to Richard for his time talking to my tuner so we did the job correctly”.

We look forward to seeing more photographs from Mike later in the year. Click here for details on the USA Zero self build options that we offer. If you have any photographs of your Zero build, then we would love to see them and share with everyone. Please visit our contact page for details.

See us at Stoneleigh & Newark Kit Car Show with a Zero Club area reserved….

Above is our GBS and Kit Spares stand at Stoneleigh Kit Car Show last year. Click here to see more photographs from our time at Stoneleigh Kit Car Show last year.

The GBS Event Calendar is getting busy and we have something on almost every month…… We are pleased to have recently confirmed our GBS and Kit Spares Stands for Stoneleigh Kit Car Show and also Newark Kit Car Show which has returned after many years. Stoneleigh Kit Car Show is happening on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd May, then Newark Kit Car Show is happening Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July. We will be at both events with a collection of Zero’s on display along with a full range of parts and spares from Kit Spares and ATR Products that you can view and purchase on the day.

We have also arranged for there to be a club stand area for all GBS Zeros at both Stoneleigh and Newark. So if you are going in your Zero please feel free to park their along with all other Zero owners. We look forward to seeing you all at both events and seeing all the Zero’s parked together. Please visit our event page to see more details about these events and about the GBS Zero Owners Club areas.

Don’t forget its our GBS Cars and Coffee event that is happening on Saturday 21st March at the GBS Factory, its already looking like its going to be a busy event. Our parts shop Kit Spares will also be open on the day, so if you need any parts let us know before the day and we can get them ready for you to collect on the day as it can sometimes be very busy! Visit our parts website www.kitspares.co.uk to see more details.

*Our next event that is happening later this month (21st-23rd February) is The Race Retro Show where the Zero’s can be seen.

The first GBS Track Days of 2020 are confirmed....

After two very successful and enjoyable GBS track days last year we are hoping to do many more this year and we are pleased to have confirmed the first two for this year.  

We are pleased and excited to announce that the next GBS Track Days will be happening on Saturday 18th April at Blyton Park and then on Friday 15th May we will be at Donington Park.
Both Track Day events are via Javelin Track Days. To book your place and for more details please visit our event page or click on the links below. We recommend that you book early to avoid disappointment!
We will confirm which garage number for Donington Park Track Day we will be in nearer the time, as usual we will also be offering passenger rides on the day with one of the GBS team in the Zero’s. Passenger ride passes can be purchased on the day through Javelin Track Days, more details about that can be found on our event page.
We can’t wait and hope you can all join us in your Zero’s or just in person to enjoy the day with us, we look forward to seeing you all there.

We hope to get a few more track days in this year and are already looking to book more for later in the year, so if you can’t make these two Track Days don’t worry we will be doing more, as soon as they are confirmed we will share the details with you all.
Visit our GBS YouTube channel to see videos of the Zero’s out on the track at different race circuits and below are a few photographs.

Looking for that perfect Valentines Gift…. How about a GBS Zero.

As Valentine’s Day is now fast approaching, many of you may still be looking for that perfect gift… Have you considered a GBS Zero sports car it will be enjoyment for you both, weather you go for the self-build or factory-built option we now also have them available on finance, making owning your dream car even easier!
Why not come and visit us and see how easy and enjoyable a GBS Zero Build would be for you, or if that doesn’t interest you how about come and see us and choose the specification of your sports car for us to build for you! A warm welcome always awaits you at the GBS Factory. Our new Gen 2 Zero demonstrator is always ready for passenger drives too.

We have several events throughout the year that you and your partner and families can all join us on in your Zero’s like Track days, Cars & Coffee events, Open Days and much more. So whatever the journey you’re guaranteed a GBS Zero will turn heads, gather smiles and create new friends! (Our next GBS Cars & Coffee event is happening on Saturday 21st March)

Kit Spares have some very nice products that will also make nice Valentines Gifts…. If your not sure then a Kit Spares Gift Voucher could be the perfect gift! Please visit our parts website www.kitspares.co.uk

See us at the Race Retro Show & WIN a pair of tickets....

Its been another busy start to the year for the GBS team and the GBS Calendar is looking very busy and we are are now busy planning our stand design for our next event which is the Race Retro Show at Stoneleigh Park, that’s happening 21st-23rd February. We can be found over the 3 days on stand 264 in Hall 2 with the Zero on display along with a range of sample products from Kit Spares and ATR Products.

The Race Retro Show is an historic show that attracts a range of sports cars and has a live rally stage and we are pleased to have partnered up with the Race Retro Show team again to give you the chance to WIN two more free tickets!

For the chance to WIN head over to our GBS Facebook page & all you have to do is like our page, and comment who you would bring to the show with you by 13.02.2020. This is a great show and we are sure that you will enjoy it! Good Luck to you all….. Enter here.
A Winner will be picked at random and notified on our GBS Facebook page on 14.02.2020.

The GBS calendar for 2020 is already looking very busy with lots of new and exciting events scheduled in, the 2020 GBS calendar is updated regularly so make sure you keep checking. Click here to visit our event page

Nice start to the year for a GBS Customer who collected his new factory built Zero…

Those of you that visited our stand earlier this month at the Autosports Show would have seen a very nice spec Zero on display along side our new Zero demonstrator. That Zero was a factory built Zero that was collected last weekend by its new owner Mr Robin Copley.
Robin and his wife Hazel came to the factory for the hand over on Saturday and to test drive their new car, then we delivered the car later that afternoon to their home.
Robin and Hazel also joined us on our stand at the Autosports Show where their Zero attracted a lot of attention over the four days, Robin’s Zero is of similar spec to our new Gen 2 Zero demonstrator which is….

Robins Zero Spec: Sport Chassis , Painted Mercedes Polar White, 2.5 Duratec Engine, Power 200 - 350 bhp, 5 Speed manual gearbox, Carbon Dash with Smiths Flight Gauges, Carbon Fibre Finishing panels, DRL Style Headlights, ATR Adjustable Suspension, ATR Brakes Front: ATR 300mm floating discs 4 pot caliper, Rear: Disc & Caliper Upgraded.

On Saturday Kurtis who built Robin’s Zero was also here for the handover along with Richard, we have already received some photos from Robin as he has already enjoyed several miles in his new Zero. Robin and Hazel have several road trips planned already for the year including a camping trip and road trip to France as well as looking forward to enjoying it out on the track too. They will also be joining us at our first GBS Cars & Coffee event which is happening on Saturday 21st March the GBS Factory, more details can be found on our events page.

You may have already seen that we made a short video from our time at the Autosports International Show and Richard talks through some of the features on the new Gen 2 Zero Factory build that was on our stand which was Robins Zero. Click here to see video.
Each factory built GBS Zero is individually hand built to your own specification, please click here for more details about the Zero factory built options.

The EV Zero was recently on display at another event….

Earlier this month our Electric Zero was on display at the MIA Energy-Efficient Motorsport Conference (EEMS) #EEMS2020 in association with AVL RACING which was at the NEC in Birmingham. Our Niche Vehicle Network Zero EV was seen on the Rockfort Engineering stand alongside their other project car the race winning Mahindra Formula E car.

The Electric Zero chassis is bespoke to allow for the concept EV powertrain. In the front of the vehicle the battery has replaced the standard engine as the energy source and the original fuel cell is replaced with the powertrain. GBS have machined intricate prototype parts to allow the E drive system to be mounted as a compact unit within in the vehicle.
The powered electronics have been developed in partnership with Rockfort Engineering who are heavily involved with Formula E. The project was to develop a novel cooling concept and the project vehicle will be used to create duty cycles to further develop this technology. The vehicle has a limited range as it was designed for high load discharge to generate heat and monitor the cooling data.

This electric Zero as always attracted a lot attention throughout the event and will be back at the factory soon and we hope to have it here for you all to see at our next GBS Cars & Coffee event which is happening on Saturday 21st March at the GSB Factory. Visit our events page for more details on the events the Zero can be seen at throughout 2020.

The first event of 2020 was a great success and start to the year….

It’s a busy start to the year at the GBS Factory as we were straight into preparing for the first event on the GBS Calendar which was the Autosports International Show at the NEC in Birmingham which started on Thursday 9th until 12th January. it was nice to see so many customers over the weekend as well as meet many new customers that we look forward to welcoming to the GBS Factory over the next few weeks. We had a different stand location this year and were based in Hall 3, where we had two very nice spec Zero’s on display.

We had our new high spec Gen 2 Zero demonstrator on display, which many of you may have already seen as this Zero made its first appearance at Goodwood Revival last year. Along with our demonstrator was a very nice spec Zero that you have not seen before. This factory built Zero had only passed its IVA Test last week that GBS Customer Robin Copley kindly let us have on display for the show. Robin and his wife Hazel visited the show and spent some time with us all on the stand on Saturday admiring their new Zero, that is just now waiting to be registered and then collection will be confirmed for later this month.  Robin and Hazel have several road trips planned already for the year including a camping trip and road trip to France as well as looking forward to enjoying it out on the track too.

We are pleased to say that both Zero’s attracted a lot of attention over the 4 days and we have lots of factory visits and test drives booked already. Its already been a very busy and successful start to 2020 for us and the next few months are looking like they will continue to be that. Below are a few photographs from the weekend and if you follow us on Instagram you can see a lot more from our time at this years Autosport International Show including some videos on there. Follow us on Instagram. We have a also made a short video from our time at the Autosports International Show and Richard talks through some of the features on the new Gen 2 Zero Factory build that was on our stand. Click here to see video.

Visit our events page to see what other events that we have planned for 2020, its updated regularly so please keep checking.

The first GBS Cars & Coffee event of 2020 is happening… Hope you can join us?

We are delighted to share with you all that our first GBS Cars and Coffee event of the year is confirmed and will be happening at the GBS Factory on Saturday 21st March. Already it looks like its going to be a busy day with lots of people confirmed to join us, We have set up an event page on our Facebook page so let us know you are coming and keep checking that for updates and you can invite your friends & family to join us too! Click here for more details and to let us know you are coming.

We are pleased to also share with you that from our GBS Christmas Cars & Coffee event we raised an amazing £225.95 for the Cancer Research UK Charity, we also collected for the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance but we are just waiting for the tins to be counted then we when we find out we will let you know. We would like to say a massive THANK YOU to you all for joining us at our Cars & Coffee events and for your generous donations to two great charities which we support and making the events a great success. We hope you can join us on Saturday 21st March and we look forward to seeing a car park full of sports cars again.

We are just in the process of confirming the first GBS Track Day of 2020, so as soon as that is confirmed it will be displayed on our events page and announced on social media. Don’t forget you can also join our GBS mailing list, where you will receive monthly emails directly from the Factory. Click here to join our GBS mailing list.

Happy New Year to you all… We are ready for another great year ahead….

The GBS and Kit Spares team would like to wish you and your families a Happy New Year.
We all had a great Christmas break and now feel refreshed and ready for 2020 to begin.

We are all looking forward to a very busy year, it has already started off as a busy week for us, and we are now busy preparing the GBS Zero’s for our first event of the year which is the Autosport International Show where the GBS Zero’s will be on display next week. The 2020 event Calendar is also looking busy, and we are excited to have released the date for our first GBS Cars & Coffee event of 2020 and our first GBS Track Day Date will be announced to you all very soon, so make sure you keep checking our GBS Event page for more details and to see other events that we have planned that we hope you will all be able to join us on, please visit our events page.

We look forward to seeing you all very soon…

Happy New Year & Best Wishes to you all.
From
Richard, Keith and all the GBS Team.

Happy Christmas to you all and best wishes for 2020.... From all the GBS Team

All of the GBS and Kit Spares  team would like to wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas, and also like to take this opportunity to say thank you all for your support this year.

After another very successful and extremely busy year, we are now looking forward to a continued busy & successful 2020 with many new and exciting challenges ahead. It already looks like 2020 is going to be another exciting and busy year for us, we will be starting of the year with exhibiting the GBS Zero range at the Autosport International Show that is in the second week in January (9th-12th January 2020) at the NEC in Birmingham. More details about the event can be found on our event page.

We are all now looking forward to a well earned break and rest over the Christmas period and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year. Don’t forget you can still follow us over the Christmas break on our social media channels for updates – Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Happy Christmas everyone

Best Wishes From
Richard, Keith
and all the GBS & Kit Spares Team.

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Christmas opening times for GBS & Kit Spares:
The GBS Factory and Kit Spares will be closed on Tuesday 24th December and we will be open again and back to normal opening hours on Thursday 2nd January 2020.
You can still place your orders online from our parts website Kit Spares and Kit Spares eBay Shop, but please note any orders placed after 23rd December 2019 may not be processed or dispatched until 2nd / 3rd January 2020. www.kitspares.co.uk

The Crossland family’s self-build, LNER inspired GBS Zero....

By Andrew Crossland on behalf of the Crossland family.

This is the story of The Crossland family and our GBS Zero. Sadly, our story starts on a very sad note. In January 2019, our Dad was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, it was too late to treat. However, as a family we all saw how it never broke his spirit and, in reality, actually cemented his strength, positivity and love of life. The following story should illustrate how true that is.

The early stages of cancer involve rest and extensive periods of realisation. For Dad, that meant time talking to family, processing his diagnosis and switching off by watching TV. Of the many series Dad watched, one episode of The Grand Tour stood out - where the team went to Mongolia and build a kit car. As the kit car raced across various obstacles, Dad became inspired to start another adventure. From that moment Dad decided he wanted to buy a kit car; and it took very little to persuade his sons James and Andrew to join in.

Within a month we had selected a car - a Zero by Great British Sports Cars who are based in the nearby town of Ollerton, Nottinghamshire. We took Dad to visit the factory and knew immediately that this was the place to get that dream car. Steve and Richard showed us around the factory, introduced us to the team and where the car would be built. Driving away from the factory we quickly decided that we wanted to work with GBS who, like The Crossland’s, are a family at heart.

Throughout the build of the car, GBS worked with us on all of details of the build and design. Numerous calls and emails followed. As we toured various hospitals and met with various consultants, Dad was involved. Sadly, Dad’s medical condition deteriorated and he passed away in July - leaving a devastated family but one strangely motivated and empowered by the attitude Dad took to his life. It’s worth saying how he never once complained about being diagnosed. For Dad it was part of his life and the path weaved for him. Ahead of him lay obstacles and targets, just like life always had. A major target was James’s birthday - and a speech that, typical of Dad, left us all crying and laughing. Treatment was a path to be walked. Hurry on Sundown, see what tomorrow brings. Life’s for living. We took every day step by step as a family and as close as we always had been.

James and I were fortunate to have that closeness throughout our upbringing. One of our earliest memories is standing on a grass bank in Retford watching a beautiful blue steam train on the East Coast Mainline. James, Dad, Grandad, our Great Grandfather and myself all worked on the railways and we grew up exploring our great country or visiting friends by train - initially on a free rail pass as part of Dad’s job. Trips to York with friends, girlfriends and family didn’t feel right without a trip to the National Railway Museum. In each trip came a seminal moment; walking up to Mallard. The locomotive was designed by Nigel Gresley and built opposite Dad’s office in Gresley House. Synonymous with an age of speed, Mallard became the world’s fastest running at 126mph in 1939. That record still stands today.

As a family, we have a tradition in the National Railway Museum of placing our hands on Mallard and uttering the immortal words “how are you doing old girl” before taking photos. In family, folklore these words were passed down from our Grandad who used to fire the engine. To friends from around the world it was a Crossland oddity and one that as a family we got used to being laughed at as we took photos. To James and I, Mallard is that beautiful blue train that we watched from the grass bank during our childhood.

A few weeks after Dad passed away, I visited York with a close friend. As is traditional and non-negotiable, Mallard featured in the trip and memories came flooding back. A few weeks later, James and I contacted GBS with our idea - to change the theme of our car from British Racing Green to a custom designed paying homage to Mallard and our relationship with it.

Initially, it was an email sent with much trepidation. We actually made two requests to GBS - firstly for completely customised paint work and also to run the car on biofuel (more on that in another blog). Steve, Richard and the team immediately responded and they seemed genuinely excited by the idea. Within a few weeks, we visited the factory where Richard had marked up the vehicle with his proposed design. The attention to detail Richard had paid to the design blew me away, and he spotted parts of the locomotive’s design that I had never seen before. This was also Mum’s first trip to GBS and we were quickly joined by the rest of the GBS team to discuss the design. Perhaps it was the emotion of the day for us, but we genuinely felt an energy and excitement about the car. We drove away with a smile.

At this stage it’s also important to mention a small additional feature to the vehicle which is important to myself. I work in renewable energy with environmentalism and carbon saving really critical to my being. As a result of discussions with GBS, we believe that this will be the first biofuel compatible Zero in the world, meaning that I can drive the car in the knowledge that it has environmental credentials which drive everything I do in my professional life.

Within weeks the car was painted and the family sat enjoying photos of our beautiful garter blue vehicle coming together via emails from GBS and on social media – an amazing feet given that we were living our lives in New Zealand, Warwick and Retford.

The big reveal and delivery of the vehicle came on 17th December 2019 at the GBS factory in Ollerton. It was clear to us as a family how excited GBS were about the car, and that was evident by the smiles and warm welcome we (Mum, Nana, James and I) received on arrival. Steve, Ruth and Richard were evidently thrilled by the car and appearance. The result is a stunningly beautiful, tastefully delivered and hugely charismatic custom painted vehicle that we are thrilled to start putting together. The car looks even better in person than in the photos.

Writing this we are about to embark on the build. As a family we will share photos with you via GBS. We also hope that, once built, the car will be used by GBS to showcase the Zero and the customisation options available to enthusiasts – from paint to biofuels.

As Great British Sports Cars we were delighted to have met Andrew and James’s dad and pleased that he got the chance to visit the GBS factory, we are sure he would be very proud of his Sons and Family. As soon as the Crosslands let us know about their paint idea, we thought this would be stunning and we were excited as it is something very different and also very special.

The Zero was sat in our workshop for a while before it was collected and attracted a lot of attention especially when it was on display at our Christmas Cars & Coffee event beginning of December. Their Zero spec is a 175 calibre and will be powered by a Ford 2L Zetec engine and is biofuel ready. We look forward to following the Crossland’s build and sharing more with you as it progresses.

GBS Zero has arrived in the USA just in time for Christmas….

Yesterday we had a very happy customer in USA….. GBS Customer Will McDonald took delivery of his new Zero Self Build Kit which was a very nice spec kit that included the new ATR Front Brake upgrade kit and many other nice popular options and upgrades. The kit was collected from us at the end of October and was a very smooth door to door delivery, which saw Paul Barnes our USA representative collect the kit from our USA shipping agent depot then onto Will’s house for the delivery. We are pleased that it has made it to Will just in time for Christmas and he will be kept busy over the Christmas period, we look forward to receiving photographs as the build progresses.
There is also another Zero Race self build kit that is currently on the way now to USA and will arrive early in January, we will share more on that delivery next year with you all. Please click here for more details about the USA Zero spec and click here for details on the Zero build options.

Today was also a special day for the Crossland Brothers and family who we welcomed back to the GBS Factory, Andrew and James came to collect their Zero self build kit. If you have visited the GBS Factory recently then you will have seen their stunning painted Zero that has been in our workshop, it was also on display in our workshop at our Christmas Cars and Coffee event that took place earlier this month. There is a nice story behind Andrew and James’s Zero build and choice of colour, spec etc which we will be sharing with you before Christmas.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter too, where you will see more photographs of what we are up to and behind the scenes.

Christmas opening times for GBS & Kit Spares:
The GBS Factory and Kit Spares will be closed on Tuesday 24th December and we will be open again and back to normal opening hours on Thursday 2nd January 2020.
You can still place your orders online from our parts website Kit Spares and Kit Spares eBay Shop, but please note any orders placed after 23rd December 2019 may not be processed or dispatched until 2nd / 3rd January 2020. www.kitspares.co.uk

GBS Zero just in time for Christmas and our Christmas Opening Hours…..

Its been busy couple of weeks with lots of Zero kit collections and exports, last week we had a GBS Zero Race Self Build kit collected that’s now on the way to a new customer in America, this is the last kit of year to go to America the next one will be going in January. We also had a David Kerslake from Northampton come with his son to collect his new Zero Ford based self build kit, David has wanted to build a kit car for several years and now he is very excited that his dream has come true and the build is now actually happening.

Yesterday we had a Sweden Spec Zero kit collected that is going to a be an educational build for students in Sweden, and we also welcomed Ian Whitman back to the factory yesterday to collect his Zero Mazda kit.

Next week the final Zero self build kit of 2019 is being collected by two brothers, we will share more on that kit collection with you soon as there is nice story behind their build and spec of build.

Father and Son Jerry and Matt Haller also sent us some photos of some parts, the new ATR Products front hubs, brakes and suspension that are now assembled and were recently fitted to their Zero which looks like its coming along nicely. They both joined us on Saturday at our Christmas Cars and Coffee and said there build is going well and are both really enjoying it. You can now see more photos from our Christmas Cars and Coffee event last Saturday on GBS Facebook page. Please click here.

Christmas opening times for GBS & Kit Spares:
The GBS Factory and Kit Spares will be closed on Tuesday 24th December and we will be open again and back to normal opening hours on Thursday 2nd January 2020.
You can still place your orders online from our parts website Kit Spares and Kit Spares eBay Shop, but please note any orders placed after 23rd December 2019 may not be processed or dispatched until 2nd / 3rd January 2020. www.kitspares.co.uk