TMC Costin;

Grimreaper666 · 20-08-2012 8:53pm #1

Does anyone know if any exist or could be bought?

w124man · 20-08-2012 8:54pm

Grimreaper666 wrote: »

Does anyone know if any exist or could be bought?

Are you OK? :rolleyes:

Grimreaper666 · 20-08-2012 9:02pm

w124man wrote: »

Are you OK? :rolleyes:

I'm grand thanks! Wouldn't mind getting my hands on one if i can.:)

Dilbert75 · 20-08-2012 9:04pm

Been keeping an eye out for the last couple of years - last one I heard of had been scrapped by whoever had it because they didn't realise it was such a rare beast.

dharn · 20-08-2012 9:05pm

@ dilbert75 i thought they were made down your part of the country

Hifive · 20-08-2012 9:16pm

Grimreaper666 wrote: »

Does anyone know if any exist or could be bought?

Haven't seen any for sale for a long long time.
There were only 39 of them built down in Wexford and the last one was completed 25 years ago, so I'd say you have your work cut out!

Unusual looking car very Lotus 7 from the front but the rear end is eh, unique.

dharn · 20-08-2012 9:21pm

ya i remember they had a stand at an irish motor show i was interested in buying one until i saw the back end it was so amateur looking

Grimreaper666 · 20-08-2012 9:35pm

I'd like to get one just to have one really to add to the fleet,:).

Dilbert75 · 20-08-2012 9:36pm

There was definitely room for aesthetic improvement alright!

carchaeologist · 20-08-2012 9:37pm

There is one in Co Kerry.

Grimreaper666 · 20-08-2012 9:43pm

Another one in Cork, the Murphys Brewery one.

Dilbert75 · 20-08-2012 9:46pm

Just a google sprung up some interesting reading: http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=835

DaveCol · 20-08-2012 10:32pm

There was one for sale on ebay.ie a year or two ago

Dilbert75 · 24-01-2013 7:40pm

There's one for sale on DoneDeal now. If I had the money.... no price listed though.

kev1.3s · 24-01-2013 10:08pm

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/4354640

Thanks for that. I'd love that to.

Dilbert75 · 24-01-2013 10:34pm

kev1.3s wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/4354640

Thanks for that. I'd love that to.

Hopefully a real car enthusiast gets their hands on it.

Silvera · 25-01-2013 7:32pm

I too would like one in my fleet.
I started a thread about the TMC Costin over on Octane about 3 years ago and I think it was the biggest thread there ever.

bbsrs · 26-01-2013 9:41am

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Hopefully a real car enthusiast gets their hands on it.

Only a real enthusiast would buy it so I'd say it's safe for a few years.

dahamsta · 26-01-2013 10:03am

Ye gods that's one ugly motherfecker of a car.

kev1.3s · 26-01-2013 12:12pm

Ha ha its an acquired taste all right! Only a paddy could take something as beautiful as a lotus 7 and destroy it by grafting on a hard top based on a cab of a massy 35, but id love it all the same.

dahamsta · 26-01-2013 12:18pm

Curiously, a Massey-Ferguson sunstrip with would actually make it work.

Slevin7 · 10-10-2013 11:02pm

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Just a google sprung up some interesting reading: http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=835

Hi guys I just recently learned about the tmc, and have done a little snooping on the net, and with octane gone now I can read any of that info. Does anyone have anymore info of cars still in existence, car specs, no. Built, etc. was there ever a registry set up. Anything at all as I love to know more of this irish car. Thanks.

bigroad · 11-10-2013 3:32pm

I remember reading about them years ago.They used the ford engine and gearbox .1600cc crossflow 2000 ohc and im nearly sure a cossie engine was tried aswell.They were basically a kit car built to order.Very similar kits can be bought from the uk.A diesel model would be interesting.

Bigus · 14-10-2013 3:30pm

bigroad wrote: »

I remember reading about them years ago.They used the ford engine and gearbox .1600cc crossflow 2000 ohc and im nearly sure a cossie engine was tried aswell.They were basically a kit car built to order.Very similar kits can be bought from the uk.A diesel model would be interesting.

They were never a kit car , they were designed by frank costin , a famous and successful race engineer.

bigroad · 14-10-2013 3:47pm

I didnt know Frank Costin made all his own parts.Fair play to him so.My mistake.

Bigus · 14-10-2013 4:09pm

bigroad wrote: »

I didnt know Frank Costin made all his own parts.Fair play to him so.My mistake.

He didn't make them but a factory in Wexford did to his spec.

beauf · 14-10-2013 4:18pm

I remember seeing a TMC Costin as a kid. I think we have a photo of sitting beside one somewhere.

http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac/tag/frank-costin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Costin
http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2011/04/01/hmn_feature17.html
http://colinchapmanmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=208

bigroad · 14-10-2013 4:38pm

I was just reading up on the Tmc it used the very nice ford 1600 crossflow engine producing 82bhp and with the cars light construction produces a 150bhp per ton .Would have been great fun to drive.

carchaeologist · 15-10-2013 9:19am

I saw one yesterday. Interesting machines.

Slevin7 · 18-01-2014 1:45pm

carchaeologist wrote: »

I saw one yesterday. Interesting machines.

Cool where did you see it. Looking at different pictures on the net, there was a lot of different power bulges in the bonnets. They must have been fitted with quite a few different engines

carchaeologist · 18-01-2014 9:17pm

Slevin7 wrote: »

Cool where did you see it. Looking at different pictures on the net, there was a lot of different power bulges in the bonnets. They must have been fitted with quite a few different engines

In Co Kerry, that particular example was based on Vauxhall/Opel running gear I think.

Slevin7 · 18-01-2014 9:29pm

carchaeologist wrote: »

In Co Kerry, that particular example was based on Vauxhall/Opel running gear I think.

Any chance you could get a few pictures of it. Thanks

sbirney93 · 21-01-2021 10:55pm

Does anyone know where the TMC Costin spotted in Kerry is now?

finianr123 · 25-01-2021 9:38am

Bigus wrote: »

He didn't make them but a factory in Wexford did to his spec.

The car was designed by Frank Costin and built in Wexford by the Thompson brothers, Peter, Sean and Val.
The Thompsons were related to Professor Seamus Timoney who designed and built the Timoney Armoured Personnel Carriers and Fire Engines in Adtec Teo, Gibbstown, Co. Meath.
The Thompsons and Frank Costin all worked for Timoney for years.

Dilbert75 · 25-01-2021 8:24pm

Yep - Castlebridge, Co. Wexford. Saw one of their own ones last year - was getting some bodywork done on a car and theirs was in for a respray. Man, they're bare bones cars but I'd still love to have one.

TigerTim · 25-01-2021 8:49pm

Here's a pic I took in Mondello

TigerTim · 25-01-2021 8:56pm

And this one

Dilbert75 · 25-01-2021 9:30pm

Mad looking things in race trim. I remember them as an iconic niche car - Stephen Roche on the Late Late Show promoting them - but when I see all the other Lotus 6 kit cars now, there are prettier. And I'd still love one.

TMC Costin;

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