AutoCult Manic GT (1969) (Canada)

About the Original:

The unloved Stepchild

In 1969 a test was started with the Manic GT to put a car on the Canadian market, which should conquer the hearts of the sporty driver.

The idea came from Jacques About, who was working in the press section of Renault-Canada in the mid-1960s. He closely followed the European automobile market, especially the small sports car “Alpine A 110” of Renault France that could be bought at the Renault dealers.

In response of his question, if you can officially offer in Canada an Alpine sports car over the Renault distribution network to the customer, but he was rejected.

This was exactly the answer that he wanted, and he started immediately to turn over this own idea. He found investors and created a car body made of fiberglass by using the platform and running gear of Renault. Equipped with a Renault engine, About presented his small sports car on the Montreal auto show in 1969.

The enthusiasm of the public fulfilled not only the expectations of the creator, but surpassed it by far.

Production kicked off in October 1969, and a new problem arose quite quickly.  Jacques About received so many orders that he had to feed off his new customers with a waiting time of up to two months.

That began so promisingly, ended after a short time. The French parent company of Renault delayed again and again the delivery of the urgently needed running gears and engines which in turn caused production of the Manic GT to increasingly slow down.

The company could bridge the year 1970, however in 1971 there was no hope. After 160 examples had been produced of the Manic GT, the assembly of the company L´Ecurie Manic was definitely discontinued.