ESCARTUS BETTER BY FAR THAN A HOT WHEELS CAR

When I first saw an Escartus in 1981 it looked awesome. It was the first supercar I had seen in the flesh and there was nothing on New Zealand roads at the time that could be compared to it.

Two years later I was standing in the factory as the last car was being produced. At the time, the car cost more than my house and was an unaffordable dream.

Fast forward almost 40 years to Hastings to see Mike Boyce, who at one stage had examples of three New Zealand–designed and–factory-produced cars: the Heron MJ1; the Dixon (known as the ‘JSA’ in Australia); and the Escartus. Few who read this will have heard of these cars, but strictly speaking they only marginally qualify for this column as they were only ever sold turnkey, never as kits.

But this one qualifies. In 2010 Mike was looking for a retirement project when he saw an Escartus for