Some times I just cannot believe some of the stories behind some of the cars I feature, today’s nifty li’l Cub designed by Yorkshireman extraordinaire John Crosthwaite, is a case in point.

John’s CV included working at Lotus to refine and develop the Lotus XI and 14 Elite models, then spending some time in the States and designing the stock block Thompson Buick Indy 500 challenger Harvey Aluminium Special with which Dan Gurney made his Indy 500 debut.

Following spells at BRM and developing the chassis for the Intermeccanica Italia sports cars John found himself at Reliant where his design legacy included the chassis for the Reliant Scimitar GTE and Reliant Kitten economy car.

Like the Reliant Fox pick up I looked at back in November the Reef Cub is built around a Reliant Kitten chassis.

John’s interest in watersports, including diving, water skiing and wind surfing led him to manufacture the Cub for holiday resorts in the Seychelles and West Indies, though the Cub, with bodywork design accredited to Peter Bailey, appears never to have gone into production.

The car featured is thought to be one, the only one registered in the UK, of four prototypes all of which are / were allegedly different. This car was owned by John Crosthwaite’s daughter for ten years.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Pick Up Pedigree’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !