The UVA Fugitive F33 Can-Am was first shown in April 1986 at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show. The official launch of the car was July 1986.
Prior to the launch of the F33 the F30 had been the top of the range Fugitive. The new F33 Can-Am was designed to offer an alternative to the F30 without stealing attention from UVA’s more comfortable M6GTR.
According to UVA the redesign was prompted by customer dislike of the cycle style wings and the headlights on the F30 and the opportunity was taken to restyle all the external panels with a much more enclosed look.
According to the following article from the owners club the story is a bit different !
‘The early Fugitive 3 had cycle style front wings. The chassis manufacturer for UVA at that time made a buck out of wood and paid UVA’s laminators to make him a mould and a set of body panels from it for his own car. UVA kept the moulds and thus the panel set for the F33 Can-Am was born with the testarossa style side air intakes for the radiator. They had to find a new manufacturer for their chassis after that as he reckoned he had been ripped off and refused to make them any more for UVA.’
The chassis was basically a Fugitive 4 chassis modified to take a mid mounted engine.
The main engine used was the Rover V8 although many other engines could be fitted. In standard form the Rover engine gave the light weight Fugitive a power to weight ratio of 270 bhp per ton , on par with a Porsche 911 Turbo.
Expected speeds should be around the same as the Rover V8 powered F30 with a 0-60 time of around 5.7 seconds and a maximum speed of 152 mph.
The moulds and jigs for the F33 are believed to be in Italy and in March 1996 it was thought that the then owner was keen to start a race series using the car.
Pictures
Documents
The following are links to press clippings and articles mentioning the UVA Fugitive F33 :
UVA Fugitive F33 Original Advertisement
Street Machine magazine article (5 pages) on the UVA F33 from February 1987
The following are links to press clippings and articles mentioning the UVA Fugitive F33 :
UVA Fugitive F33 fails to run at “Kit Car and Specials” magazine 1986 Action Day – 1
UVA Fugitive F33 fails to run at “Kit Car and Specials” magazine 1986 Action Day – 2
How Much?
Although difficult to give an idea of the price of a second hand kit car, due to the immense differences in specifications and quality possible between cars, the following are details of real cars seen advertised in the past. Advertised in September 1996 issue of Which Kit? :- UVA F33 Can-Am Rover V8, Porsche gearbox , wishbone front suspension, tuned 8 branch exhaust, alloys, twin radiators, full harness. 1000 miles only, partly factory built. £7500.
Advertised in December 1998 issue of Which Kit? :- UVA F33 3.8 litre V8, private plate, 0-60 in 4 secs, 320 bhp, top speed 170mph, Very cheap insurance, tax exempt, tested and fully road legal. £11000.
