Cyril Kieft's engineering firm was a small volume UK manufacturer of small racing cars in the fifties. In what would be his swansong, Kieft began work on two V8 powered cars in 1954. One, a Grand Prix car, became a stillborn project, while the other was shipped to the US for sports car racer Erwin Goldschmidt.

The car you see here is the reincarnation of that sports car, the brainchild of the late Englishman Bill Morris, whose research showed the original as having been destroyed. It was Bill's initiative, drive and ownership that saw the Kieft G.P. car brought to reality in the year 2000, and now his second dream, to have the two cars together at England's Goodwood Revival meeting is set to go ahead, sadly without him. Bill passed away on May 5 this year. The 1954 restored Kieft Desoto started its voyage to England yesterday for the race, which will see Greg Snape don his racing helmet and take the wheel.

The sports car employs the same suspension systems as the GP car including Kieft I.R.S. with Jaguar centre. Power comes from a 4.5 litre DeSoto Firedome hemi V8 coupled to a Jaguar gearbox. Apart from diff housing, suspension parts and wheels, (re)construction was undertaken via contemporary photos and magazine articles only, there being no factory specifications available. Kieft Racing Green is as specified by Cyril Kieft himself in 2000.

Chassis construction and mechanical work was undertaken by Greg Snape.

Aluminium superlegerra-style body re-construction and paintwork was completed by Terry Cornelius. Upholstery and trimming by Glenda Snape.