Coupe towbar - I know! but either that or no coupe

Hi guys,

Is it possible to fit a tow bar to a coupe. I have to cut down to one car. But i still have a dinghy which i need to tow. only weighs 200kg all up so not too heavy. so either find a way or get rid of the coupe.
Anyone have one i? can see a picture of it, or know where i can get one?
Is it possible to fit a removable one which is invisible when not in use?

cheers ed

yes its possible. cant you just buy a cheap diesel estate instead ?

I have fitted one

Hey Gaz - where did you get it from?

Blimey, this must be a record - nearly 12 years after the previous post

I've set a reminder to post here again in 2033.

"How many are left.com"

Watling Engineers list one for £216 inc vat - they were the only place I could get one for my Suzuki SC100 25 years ago and glad to see they are still alive!
https://www.watling-towbars.co.uk/docs/pricelist.pdf

... And it "features a detachable rear section to provide a neat appearance" ...

Someone at the meet we had in Yorkshire last Wednesday evening had a towbar on his Coupe which he wanted to remove - apparently it was welded on but might still be possible to refit it after he's removed it. If you see the posts on the Club Facebook page you can ask there, I can't remember who's Coupe it was but think it was the Sprinty - someone else might remember.

I was thinking a coupe having a tow bar was pretty laughable
Till I was behind a smart car that had one
Not sure what it’s capable of towing

I watched a tiny Trabant towing a caravan - with some difficulty - the other day...

it has its uses

It does indeed have its uses...

Towing a Quantum 2+2 kit home with a Jago Geep...

I then fitted the tow-bar to the finished Quantum so I could pull a small trailer...

then after selling the Quantum, it went onto my MX5.

Ooh, another (ex) Quantum owner! Mine had a 20vt engine in it...

I remember seeing that but can't remember where - could it have been on the Quantum OC area at Stoneleigh one time ?

I built mine in 1995 from a (formerly) mint XR2 I bought from a salvage yard on Canvey Island - did loads of improvements and mods over the 10 years I owned it and then sold it for quite a good price to couple from the south coast - not sure where it is now. I may well go to the Stoneleigh show this year (once it stops moving on the calendar) and will ask the QOC secretary if there's any info.

Do you have any pics of yours ?

Here's a few more of mine:

A darker red than yours - NDZ4357. It went to Stoneleigh a few times, so you'd have likely seen it then.

Unfortunately it revealed a hidden flaw in the lamination for the rear suspension mounts - what should have been 3/4" of fiberglass was 1/4" inch of fiberglass and 1/2" of fibre with no resin - which caused some interesting rear end steering when it was booted, so Joe and I took it to bits with extreme prejudice and scrapped it.

Lots of pictures, but mostly of the construction process, welding, wires all over the place sort of thing. I'll have a look.

Neil

A few pics...

Oh no... what a terrible end to a great project - how long did you run it before discovering the flaw ? Did you buy the kit from Quantum or was it already built - either way did you have any recourse with Quantum for the production mistake?

I guess it must have been pretty quick.

Sadly, the problem was discovered fairly early after the engine transplant, once I started, er, driving it with alacrity. Joe and I spend a long time trying to find out what was wrong, and we didn't discover the reason until we scrapped it. Which we did after spending far too long trying to fix the issue, at which point I decided it would not be kind to give a potentially lethal problem to someone else.

The problem was that the issue was intermittent and erratic; you could cruise around all day at 40mpg and have no issues, then boot it and find yourself heading to the ditch at the side of the road. Nasty if you were, for example, overtaking.

I bought the car ready built, with a tired 1600 engine and some very dodgy wiring. With the 20vt in, it was rather more than pretty quick

Nonetheless, it was an interesting and fun project, and I had the car for two or three years. It was my third kit, but the first that someone else built.

Great project and challenging to drive fast, and stay alive

But impressively fast up and down that stretch outside your yard

Er, allegedly.

As you say, very interesting but ultimately a frustrating experience - would have done my head in.

What were the other kit cars?

I had a JC midge as the first, theoretically with an Escort engine in it, but I was always awkward and it ended up with a Nissan A-series engine. British Racing Green, and the filler cap off a bus (I had to buy a bus from the scrappers to get that, cost me a fiver, then I gave them the bus back).

Then an Onyx, based on a Panda 750 but with a Fiat 127 engine (mostly) under the hood.