My first drive of a Murtaya

Enthusiasm reborn, there was still a chance there was a kit available. John at Arden also told me that the Murtaya might continue with another company.  Again I waited to hear when I could have a test drive.  Then I bought another CKC magazine and saw that Murtaya Sports Cars was newly formed. I contacted Graham Codling, the new Director, by email and arranged for a test drive.  Graham was very positive although he could only offer me a drive in what was their street legal track/rally car. Well that was a damn shame. So after spending a week in Hereford on holiday with my brother I went down to Exeter and met Graham.

In total I spent over 3 hours with Graham first talking about the Murtaya, what had happened with AMS, what his plans were for the car, how he intended to develop the car, what stages the cars in the workshop were at and the work done on specific parts.  I could have spent all day there and would gladly have lent a hand if asked.  Then we took the track car out for a test drive.  Graham let me drive first and said he would take over and show what the car could do on the run back to the workshop.

The car was phenomenal, it was a competition car and there were few comforts, apart from a 5 point harness and an awesome set of pedals.  It was noisy, the plastic windows rattled in the wind, the dump valve felt like it was beside your ear, the handling was harsh on the road yet Graham pointed out it was on its softest setting.  This car was clearly designed for the tarmac of a race track and best enjoyed wearing a crash helmet.

The sound and the performance were glorious and you couldn’t knock the smile off my face with a sledgehammer.  As we continued the drive passing cars and catching up to the next car a couple of things became blatantly clear. One, the car could out handle the driver on every bend.  This driver will definitely require a firmware upgrade.  Two, it was totally addictive this was the kind of car I wanted to build.  It was just like the first time I test drove my first Impreza only on a completely different level.

I got the feeling that Graham was frustrated at not having a proper demo car with the interior properly laid out and suspension setup for road use which would be far more comfortable and a car that could be driven for hours.

After driving for about 45 minutes I was wondering when Graham was going to take over. Then we came to a junction I recognised we passed earlier. “I thought you were going to take over?”  Graham replied “I was, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself.”  I wasn’t going to complain.  Shifting the car into first gear I headed back to the factory.

The track car had been a sensory overload. It was a car that made you want to work with the road. The seat could not be adjusted and designed for persons of a taller stature than myself.  But the driving position was great, the bulge of the bonnet, the acceleration, braking and handling all together made a stunning package.  It was all about the driving experience and yet with a little imagination and you could see it could be a nice place to be.  After an hour’s test drive I felt somewhat drained.  Not that the car was difficult to drive, far from it, but I had tried to push myself a bit to get a feel of the car on roads I had never been down before and listening to Grahams instructions as to what the road was going to do.  Then there was the niggling fact in the back of my mind that this car was to be racing at Donnington the following weekend.

Returning to the factory Graham and I continued our discussion with Graham demonstrating some of the changes he had already made on the door locking mechanism, and the headlight mounting. Then we talked about the Kit, how it is delivered, what the turnaround would be, what state the build manual was in.  Finally I had to take the long 5 hour ride home in some atrocious weather.  But I was sold.  Now all I need is a donor car.

Impreza to Murtaya - Building my sports car

The Murtaya was being both built and supplied as a kit by Adrenalin Motor Sports and was based on the Delfino Feroce and the Minari.  The feroce having the Impreza Drive chain and the Minari originally designed with an Alfa Romeo engine in mind 2 wheel drive.  The history below was taken from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtaya

The Murtaya is a lightweight, AWD, turbocharged flat-4 roadster based on the GC-generation (1992–2000) Subaru Impreza WRX/STI. The Murtaya is the only low volume MSA approved category 2, specialist rally car currently available. The Murtaya Sports car is built, sold and is currently being further developed by Murtaya Sports Cars Ltd based near Exeter, Devon

History

Originally known under the codename AMS1, the Murtaya was first announced to the world on April 11, 2006 as a kit car that would be based on the Subaru Impreza. The Murtaya was basically a complete rework of the Delfino Feroce, as Adrenaline Motorsport—having just taken over rights to the Feroce—decided that the Delfino had enough shortcomings to warrant a redesign. The Minari—of which Adrenaline Motorsport also had the rights—was also used as inspiration.

The Murtaya project was led by Neil Yates, Managing Director of Adrenaline Motorsport, and Tom Taylor, Head Engineer of Adrenaline Motorsport. Daniel Muir was the Head Designer of the Murtaya; his past credits include the first generation Lotus Elise and Aston Martin models.

The Murtaya is literally created by these three people: the name 'Murtaya' is actually the conglomeration of the three directors' surnames (MUR from Muir, TA from Taylor, YA from Yates).

The IPR to the Murtaya in its entirety was adopted by one of the early investors after the sad demise of Adrenaline Motorsport in 2010, determined not to let the enterprising and unique car be forgotten the investor started Murtaya Sports Cars Ltd. Murtaya Sports

Cars Limited based near Exeter in Devon is now producing the kits and factory built cars as well as further developing the car in order to take it to the next level.

Composition

The basis of the Murtaya consists of a GRP monocoque tub with a front space frame that contains the engine. The front suspension attaches to the space frame while the rear suspension attaches directly to the monocoque tub.

A few months later I visited the Stoneleigh National Kit car show and got to see the burnt orange car in the flesh so to speak.  I adored its lines and its scale. It was everything I had thought, dreamt, about and more.  I was sure, more than ever I was going to build one of these cars.  However I had a couple of financial and practical issues to tend with first.  I needed a bigger garage so the old one had to go and a new one built as big as I could make it, to the inch.  I roped in my neighbour Carl in to assist with the demolition and laying the slab for the new building and sold the remaining concrete sections to my boss.

It was twelve months later when I went back to the Stoneleigh show to talk business with AMS only to find they weren’t there but Arden Engineering were along with a customer’s completed hard top car in midnight blue and a rolling chassis of the demonstrator they were  in the process of building.

I had a good look round and chatted to the guys and put my name down for a test drive when the demonstrator car was completed.  Months went by and I didn’t hear anything.  I kept myself busy replacing the roof on the house and completely gutting and rebuilding the kitchen.  I scoured the internet and started learning about Imprezas and finding out about murtayas.  Finally the Stoneleigh show came around and I answered the call again to find out what the situation was with AMS as nothing seemed to be happening on their website.

AMS were not at the show and eventually I managed to speak to one of the guys at the CKC stand who informed me that the recession had taken its toll on the company and it had been forced into liquidation along with so many other businesses at that time.

Thoroughly disheartened I wandered round the show looking for another car to take its place.  A couple of cars like the Sebring Exalt and Deronda caught my eye none quite so as the Murtaya.  Following the CKC guys advice I tracked down some comments on Piston heads website from Neil Yates the former MD of AMS.  From the posts on the web site I contacted Arden engineering who told me there were still a few tubs available and that they wanted to get me to test drive a customer’s car they were finishing for AMS.