More Tomcats

Nathan has a very nice looking Tomcat that is not quite finished. “I thought you would like to see a picture of the tomcat I've nearly finished. Just waiting to fit two winches and some roof bars and its ready. The axles are 404 unimogs. The idea is to have the vehicle as useful as possible, with a removable rear canvas and sticks for the events. The only problem I've encountered is the doors not fitting correctly, i.e gaps every where.”

This may help me decide whether I want doors on my Tomcat or not! I am looking forward to seeing some pictures of it in action. The ground clearance looks amazing! No banging the diff in the ruts created by other Land Rovers.

Colin told me the following about his tomcat 100" Tomcat fitted with 4.6 Litre V8 John Eales heads and inlet manifold coupled to a Jaguar Auto box box and a Pete Roberts Transfer box. One of the first 100" Tomcats made. Won the Scottish Hill rally in the 3.5 Litre class. This was my first time out in it at Broadbottom Manchester racing with the Northern Off Road Club in 2005. I have since applied for a low flying licence and a new set of pants. Went on to finish the comp safari with no damage apart from a bent bumper.

Tony told me the following about his tomcat “It was fitted with a 3.5ltr engine with Holley carbs when I first bought it, but this gave lots of problems, so engine went in the bin and a brand new Morgan 4.6ltr engine fitted. At about the same time the lt77 gearbox decided enough was enough and gave up playing. A new r380 gearbox was fitted and is still good to this day.

Other 2004 modifications include fitting KING triple bypass shocks which totally transformed the car. Modifications for 2005 were two new axles which were strengthened and the front axle castored.

Mods for 2006 include Omex 7100 ignition system (no distributor or air flow meter) new cam, pistons, and bottom end bearings, new bonnet, sides, roof, scoop, and paintwork.”

I am not entirely sure about this vehicle as I was not able to talk to the owner. However it has a Bowler bonnet and Tomcat Motorsport seats. It is built around a space frame covered with mostly sheet aluminium. It has opening doors and a soft top, whereas I prefer the styling of the full tomcat space frame with the GRP body and side bars instead if doors.

The novelty of climbing in through the ‘window’ may soon wear off especially when the body is covered in mud. Also, the usual advantages of a ‘hard top’ such as better security and better weather protection are lost when you have no side windows, just a big hole.

This Tomcat actually belongs to Matt who supplied me with more details and some pictures of it in action green laning. “That is my 100” Bowler! I bought the frame off Drew in 1998, he hadn’t built that many 100” with doors back then (back then they were called 100SRV). It took me about six months to build. It has evolved quite a bit since then. I use it as my only car (about 10,000 miles per annum) and for green laning. It needs a bit of TLC now, a 1958 Series one rebuild took up a lot of my time last year, maybe I’ll get to do all those wish-list jobs this year…”

Matt supplied me with the following information about the spec of his Tomcat “Attached some photos of the Tomcat laning, the twist photos were taken when it had standard Range Rover front dampers at both ends (vertically mounted at the rear). I drove it out from where I photographed it! The circular bonnet vents are not as effective as the triangular ones in the centre top; these are positioned in the low-pressure area ahead of the windscreen, thus promoting hot air purging from under the bonnet when at road speeds in addition to allowing convection cooling at low speeds and when fording.

Present spec is as follows:

• Chassis and running gear are from the 1973 Range Rover donor (no PAS). Powertrain mounted on captive mountings 10” further aft than in Range Rover.
• Engine: high compression (10:1 CR) 3.9 V8 standard except for using SU HIF6 carburettors with special needles. The carbs are fed by a special plenum and large capacity air box / cold air system.
• Transmission: LT77 with 1.2 ratio LT230T transfer gearbox
• Axles are standard
• Kerb mass is 1350kg

Back end is a bit saggy as the springs are tired; one of the projects for this year. It now has 10” stroke DeCarbon dampers mounted vertically front and rear although I may change these for some Fox revalvable type as I think that the compression damping is too soft at the rear. Tyres are 7.5R16 Greenway Chacos; adequate on road, great for green laning as well as being much cheaper than the “de-rigueur” BF Goodrich!

Other jobs planned are new door tops as the present ones flap a bit now, possibly a bonded windscreen and revised screen surround, improved exhaust system to move the outlet into a clearer airflow – to stop fumes being drawn in when the rear of the canvas is rolled up (bad problem on gusty days) and to get it between the chassis rails at the front end.”

This Tomcat 88” was built by Benn for his Motor Sports Engineering HND at Oxford Brooks University. He has now started to use it for racing. For more details take a look at his web site, Xtreme 4x4 (http://www.xtreme-4x4.co.uk/). It also has the opening doors and a soft top.

The Tomcat below is competing in an All Wheel Drive Club Comp Safari at Bagshot Heath. It was driven by Paul Mansfield with Lee Mansfield as his co-driver. I only found these photos when I started putting the site together. I had taken them years ago before I even new what a Tomcat was, with a camera that took film.

I would be really grateful if anybody has pictures of their Tomcat which I can publish. Please .